I Think I Owe You One
by Living Masquerade
Summary: Sequel to When you Go, which should be read first to understand this story; the story of Viola Mire and Joel Uley. How will the next generation react to imprinting?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to The White Tie Affair**

**Just a warning…the first few chapters are a bit dramatic, but don't worry I'll get past all that in a few chapters or so.**

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"_Baby, I think I owe you one_

_Every time I come around you're ready for the letdown."_

**The Letdown**

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I had woken up knowing that today was not going to be a good day. The first indicator had been the cramps that had attacked my body at the good old hour of five in the morning; painful enough that I couldn't fall back asleep. The second indicator had been the whining I heard when I quietly made my ways downstairs to take some pain killers and watch some TV.

I turned on one of the living room lights to see Steve over in the corner of the living room whining. I knew he was in pain and I wasn't the only one; Stevie, Steve's son from his one and only litter with Amy, was hovering around him whining as well. Not good.

I ignored my body's screams for pain killer and a relaxing TV show and ran back upstairs and into my parent's room. Normally I would never ever just barge into their bedroom like that. I had learned from a very young age that I was always supposed to knock before I entered. Back then I didn't know why, but once I had learned about sex, I knew exactly why their door always remained shut.

Dad immediately bolted upwards as the door crashed open, but Mom kept sleeping. Thankfully they were both dressed which meant they had really been sleeping. I did not need to be scarred for life on top of what else was happening this morning.

"Lala? What's wrong?" Dad asked quietly so as to not wake Mom.

"It's Steve!" I cried. "He's whining and he looks real bad and Stevie is hovering around him like he knows there's something wrong!"

Mom was up by this point and already putting on her glasses to see me better. Dad had already hopped out of bed and raced by me to look after his dog.

"What's wrong honey?" Mom asked gently as she moved towards me.

"It's Steve."

"Oh no." she sighed. "He probably won't make it, Viola. He's older than you are."

"I know."

A few minutes later Mom and I joined Dad downstairs were he sat cradling Steve in his arms. Steve was still breathing, but it was labored. We all knew this was it, and thankfully just the three of us were awake to see it.

"Goodbye Steve, you have always been the best dog ever." Dad whispered a bit emotionally. "I can never thank you enough for watching over my family."

"I love you Steve." Mom cried as she reached out a hand to stroke his ears.

I reached out my own hand and rubbed his favorite spot right under his collar before I pressed my lips to his nose just like I had always done since I was two years old. He used to bark happily when I did that, but this time he just kind of made a wheezy noise that broke my heart.

"I love you Steve."

Then that was it, our half wolf was gone. While Mom went upstairs to wake up my brother and sister for the burial I burrowed my head into Stevie's fur. He was special like Steve too, but there was definitely a difference. Stevie was more dog than wolf. But he wouldn't be around much longer either; he was already twelve which was only a year younger than my spastic brother, Ian.

"Your sister is going to be devastated." Dad sighed.

"She'll get over it once we distract her with something else." I shrugged.

It was true; she was only six years old. Olivia had definitely been my parent's 'oops' baby, but she had been welcomed with loving arms. I was so happy to gain a sister after ten years of nothing but an annoying little brother and even though she could be annoying too, she was still my baby sis.

Olivia was also very much a Daddy's girl. She had my Dad wrapped around her finger, and he knew it too. In the beginning I had been that way too, but after all my time with Joel…it just didn't work out that way.

Another pain hit me in the stomach at the thought of Joel and it wasn't because of my menstrual cycle.

"Steve's dead!?" Ian cried as he raced down the staircase followed by Mom and Livy.

Livy immediately ran into Dad's arms and burrowed her crying face into his neck. Meanwhile Ian looked over Steve's body, gently stroking his fur before he too started to take comfort in Stevie like I was.

"Alright everyone, Steve deserves a proper burial after his loyalty to this family." Mom stated. "Everyone go get dressed and meet in the back yard."

I took this as my cue to go take some pain killers before I ran back upstairs to get dressed. Today was already a shitty day and it wasn't quite six in the morning yet. What a great way to start summer break; my period comes and my dog dies.

By the time I got outside everyone else was gathered around the hole Dad had dug, along with a few extra people. A few extra people I would have been happy not to see. Sam and Emily were there with Bee, which meant that Jake was right by her side, and then there was him.

He turned his head and his eyes meant mine briefly before I pointedly looked away. I couldn't help but sneak a look back only to see that he looked pretty angry. Well he had nothing to be angry with me about; I was the one who was supposed to be angry.

"Viola, would you like to say some words about Steve?" Mom asked with a look I knew meant that she knew what I was thinking about.

"He saved my life and for that I'll always be thankful for."

I didn't like thinking about that day, I don't think anyone did. I had only been seven years old when I had wandered into the woods alone like an idiot. I remember it was the first day of summer and Joel had to help his dad with something that day so he couldn't come over. So what did I do? I decided to take Steve on a walk in the woods. Once in the woods we had crossed paths with a very angry real wolf, and I had witnessed the fight between my loving family pet and the vicious beast. I still had nightmares sometimes.

I hardly paid attention as everyone else gave words. In fact I pretty much drifted into my own world until he walked up right next to me as they started to cover the grave. I stood completely still; I didn't want him to think that I actually liked his presence because I didn't. But then he laid a hand on my shoulder and that was the last straw.

"Don't touch me!" I shouted before I forcefully pulled away and ran for the house.

I didn't see what happened next because of my flight into the house, but I definitely heard something. I heard the ripping of fabric and the yells of our fathers, mothers, and siblings. But for some reason I didn't look back, I just kept running until I was sprawled out across my bed crying.

***

"Viola, something has happened."

I looked back and forth between my parent's faces as they sat before us three children. Ian and Olivia had witnessed whatever it was, which was why they were addressing me and me alone.

"Joel phased this morning after you…"

"Yelled at him." Mom finished.

"Wait. As in he turned?!" I couldn't believe it! No one had turned into wolf since before I was born.

There were still active members of the pack like my uncle Matt, Jake, Embry, and Collin, but everyone else had quit phasing to be with their imprints. In the years since I was born and even before that there hadn't been any vampire activity…so that must mean…

"Vampires?"

"Jake found a faint trail yesterday. Not anything too alarming but enough to get the genes going again." Dad replied. "Which means that Ian could be next."

I glanced over at my little brother and had to hold back my chuckle. Ian turn into a wolf? He was so skinny and awkward that I had a hard time believing that he could be transformed into a hunky werewolf like my Dad had once been.

"Let's not jump to that conclusion, Paul." Mom stated. "Sam believes that the only reason he phased was because of his age and the fact that there was increased vampire activity lately. Combined with the fact that the pack number will probably decrease soon; it's favorable conditions for the wolfy genes to come out."

"I hope Ian doesn't turn into one." I said. "That'll be awkward to explain. 'Hey guys this is my little thirteen year old brother who looks like he's twenty five' No thanks."

"You may not have a choice. Which brings me to the next topic of conversation. Ian, take Olivia outside to play will you?"

Oh great I was about to get a lecture. Sure enough, once the two of them were out of hearing distance both parents turned towards me with their game faces on.

"It's been six years, Viola." Mom said simply.

"I don't care." I shrugged.

"You need to grow up." Dad said angrily. "What he did was natural for any thirteen year old boy. His guy friends wouldn't have understood his ten year old girl best friend, Lala."

"I get that, but he didn't have to be so mean!" I cried, hating the fact that he still had the ability to make me cry. "He sounded pretty genuine when he called me all of those things too and told me that he only tolerated me because he liked coming over to play with Steve and to eat Dad's cookies."

"He was thirteen!"

"Paul, shouting isn't going to solve anything."

"Sorry, Nat." He smiled sweetly.

Gag me.

"Yeah he may have been thirteen but even after he grew out of that phase he never once tried to apologize to me or be my friend again. And then he has the nerve to try to comfort me today! I don't think so. So if we're done having this little chat I think I'm gonna go take Stevie for a walk."

"Viola-"

"Let her go, Paul. She is right."

"Thanks Mom."

I admit to being a little immature when it came to Joel, but he had meant so much to me. So naturally I just couldn't find it in my heart to forgive him that easily when he had so carelessly destroyed the friendship we had had.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to The Dirty Heads**

**Thanks for the immediate response to this story already. This story is going to take me a little longer to get out because I'm disconnected to my inner sixteen year old and I have an essay due in two weeks. Also, I wanted to tell you that this will probably be the last update until next week since I'm going home this weekend.**

**Thanks again for all the great reviews! **

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"_Check the level 'cause something's coming over me!"_

**Check the Level**

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This summer was already turning out to be pretty boring. It was the third day of break; three days since Steve had died. And the only thing I had achieved in the three days was making Joel angry enough to phase into a wolf for the first time and taking Stevie on daily walks after lunch.

Our walks were therapeutic for both of us. I could tell that he missed his Father and I needed a chance to get out of the house away from Ian, Livy, and Mom. I loved them and everything, but there's only so much a girl can take before she's had enough tea time.

I was pulled from my musings when Stevie suddenly jerked on the leash, causing it to go flying out of my hands. We both knew that the leash was only for appearances since he usually was well enough behaved to trust without a leash. Well that, and the fact that he was way stronger than I was. Nonetheless, the bastard took off running towards the woods.

"Stevie!" I yelled and started to chase after him.

What had gotten into him? He knew better than to just run off like that. By the time I reached the line of trees he was already way ahead of me and I suddenly found that I couldn't move another inch towards the forest.

I hadn't been in there since I was seven and I had planned on never going back. Yeah, I knew that there were good wolves like my uncle, but there were also real wolves; wolves that wouldn't hesitate to attack me. Or worse, there could be bears.

But Stevie was my dog and after just losing my other dog I couldn't just let him run into the woods all by himself. So I took a deep breath and ran into the forest, following the sounds of his excited barking.

When I finally found him, he wasn't alone. He was looking up at a very naked Joel Uley. Neither of them noticed me at first, which gave me ample opportunity to rake my eyes over the _very_ sculpted body of my former best friend while he rubbed my dog's back.

I sucked in a breath when my eyes dipped below his waist and both his and Stevie's eyes met mine. What happened next was pretty weird. I had expected Joel to at least try to cover himself when he realized I was there, but instead he just kept looking at me. I started to fidget under his intense gaze and was thankful that Stevie had finally wandered back over to my side.

"Would you put some clothes on or something?" I finally said.

He was quiet, but when I dared to look back up at him again he had on a pair of low slung cut offs and his brown eyes were still staring right back at me in wonder.

"Let's go Stevie."

"Wait." Joel called.

"Why should I?" I snapped back before I picked up the other end of Stevie's leash and started back to where we had come from.

***

After the little incident in the woods I stuck to my room. I came down to eat dinner, but right after I finished I wandered back up to my room. I couldn't get the image of him out of my mind! It seemed like only days ago he had been a lanky thirteen year old, but now at nineteen he definitely was not lanky. He was…well I wasn't going to think about that anymore.

"Hey is Addy there?" I asked once Aunt Kim answered the phone.

"She is, but let me pry her away from Embry first."

I knew the story behind their imprinting and now that Addy was eighteen things were starting to heat up between them just like things were between Abby and my uncle. Jared was not happy, that was for sure.

"Hi." Addy breathed into the phone. "What's up?"

"I saw Joel naked in the woods today."

"Whoa!"

"Yeah tell me about it." I rolled my eyes.

"Did you see his…?"

"Yes, but I'd rather not think about it right now thanks."

"No problem- what's going on? Why are you leaving Embry?"

"Meeting at the Mires." I heard him reply.

"What? There's no meeting here!" I cried into the phone just as I heard the front door open followed by the sounds of loud male voices. "Okay so apparently there is. I'll call you back okay, Addy?"

"Alright."

After I hung up with her I opened my bedroom door and listened to what was going on downstairs. This little meeting was definitely not a happy go lucky one, if the raised voices were any indication.

"Hell no!" I heard my Dad yell angrily. "She's only sixteen! This is unacceptable!"

"Paul, we knew this could…" I couldn't hear what else Mom said as she used her quiet soothing voice to calm Dad down.

"He doesn't have a choice, Paul." Sam stated. "You know that just as much as I do."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it."

It was at that point that I got fed up listening to them talking about something that so obviously concerned me. So I walked out of my room and boldly headed down the stairs to where everyone was gathered in the living room.

"What is going on?" I demanded, immediately gaining everyone's attention all at once.

My eyes met Joel's first before I quickly looked away and into Dad's eyes.

"Go back to your room." He ordered.

"No!"

"Viola Lee, go to your room now!"

"She needs to know, Paul." Jake said from his position in the corner. "Joel, tell her."

What the hell was going on? I quickly turned my attention to Joel, hating that I had to find my answer from him. When our eyes met his face seemed to brighten and my rebellious body shivered as I remembered what I had seen earlier in the woods.

"I imprinted on you."

"No." Was my reply.

"What do you mean no?" Jake demanded. "You're his imprint."

I shot Jake a glare. "It means that I don't want to be his imprint."

Jacob chuckled darkly, "Don't be a brat; you don't get a choice."

"Don't talk to her like that." Dad demanded. "I will handle her, she's my daughter. For now I want everyone out except for Joel."

Whoa! What the hell Dad? Don't get rid of them, get rid of him!

I was still glaring at him in shock when everyone else was gone. Mom stood up from the couch where she had been sitting next to Dad and turned to face the three of us.

"I'll leave you three to it; Livy needs a bath."

No! Don't leave me Mom! That's what I wanted to say, but instead I kept my mouth shut. Once Mom was out of the room Dad patted the spot next to him on the couch which also happened to be across from where Joel was sitting in the easy chair. After a moment's hesitation I sat down and waited for Dad to begin.

"Alright, this is how it's going to be. Joel, you're nineteen and she's sixteen. That means that until she's eighteen years old you are not allowed to pursue anything romantic with her."

I scoffed; as if I would let him try to get all 'romantic' with me.

"And Lala, you have to agree to let him see you at least one day a week until you're eighteen; then you can decide for yourself. Don't give me that look, young lady. If you remember correctly I imprinted on your Mother years ago and I know that nothing is worse than being away from your imprint. I don't care that you're still mad at him, figure it out or something because you will be seeing a lot more of each other."

Joel had the nerve to smile at that, which of course set me off.

"You ass-"

"Viola."

Damn, Dad could be really scary when he wanted to be.

"Fine, he can be around me, but that doesn't mean I have to actually talk to him."

Dad sighed, "Someday you're going to look back on this and realize just how immature you were. But what else do I expect from a sixteen year old?"

"I don't care, Mr. Mire, as long as I can just make sure she's okay." Joel stated.

Oh gag me. He could've cared less before whether I was hit by a car or not.

"Now that that's settled, you should be going on patrol and we should be going to bed."

"Good night, sir." Joel stated before he turned to me with a hesitant smile. "'Night, Lala."

***

"He imprinted on me, Addy." I whispered into the phone.

Even though Dad had stopped phasing years ago, he still had pretty good hearing, which meant that if he heard me on the phone at one in the morning he probably wouldn't be too happy about it.

Addy gasped, "He did?!"

"Yeah, as if things couldn't get worse now his life is 'devoted' to me."

"Don't make it sound like that, Lala. Embry is my best friend; being an imprint is wonderful."

"Yeah well Embry never broke your heart and then spit on it."

She sighed, "People change."

"He's only changed because fate has decided that I'm his perfect mate."

"Well that's because you are, but you're just being bitter about the entire thing." Addy stated. "I know you're not happy about this, but don't be too hard on him, Lala. I've got to go now, I think I hear my Dad coming down the hall and I don't want him to think I'm on the phone with Embry this late."

"Alright, I'll talk to you later."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to All Time Low **

**Thanks for all of the reviews! **

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"_Stand a little too tall say a little too much gonna bite that know it all tongue,_

_You tried a little too hard now I'm calling that bluff, big plans are coming undone,_

_That's just typical, you're so cynical,_

_Couldn't have me didn't want you,_

_You set yourself up to lose"._

**Keep the Change, You Filthy Animal**

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Today was definitely going to be awkward. But lately that was the story of my life. Today was the first day I was being forced to let Joel grace me with his company. So to make it less awkward I promised Livy I'd take her to the beach and informed Joel that he could carry our shit.

So that's how I found myself making a sandcastle with Livy while Joel watched us a few feet away in the sand. I wanted to just ignore him, but it was hard; he was big, warm, and too good looking for his own good.

"Joel! Come help us!" Livy yelled as she waved her red sand shovel around spraying sand in my face.

Luckily I had snapped my eyes shut just in time to avoid getting sand in my eyes. If there was one thing I learned from having a much younger sibling it was evasive maneuvers. And that just happened to be one of many in my arsenal.

"I don't think your sister would like that, Livy." Joel replied.

She turned her pouting face to me, "Why not Lala?"

I sighed, "He can come help us."

"Yay! I have a bucket for you!" She yelled happily as Joel got up to join the two of us and our sad looking sand castle.

Yeah, I didn't like the guy too much, but I couldn't deny my baby sis. So I would just have to put up with him for a little longer, until Livy was tired. Hmm maybe I should bring her along every time I have to be with him.

That dream was shattered when I spotted my gangly brother running towards the three of us. I don't know how I knew it, but I could tell that he was about to ruin my plan for the day. The plan of course was not being alone with Joel.

"Hey, Mom sent me to get Livy." Ian panted once he reached us.

"Why does she need her?" I asked defensively.

"She's going grocery shopping and we all know-"

"Grocery shopping!" Livy shrieked and jumped up from her position in the sand.

I watched as my little sister completely abandoned me and her sand toys, grabbed Ian's hand, and dragged him away towards home. What the hell? Not even a goodbye. I wasn't too surprised though; Livy really liked riding in the carts at the grocery store. She also liked that she could weasel candy for herself out of Mom.

"So…" Joel began awkwardly.

I ignored him and turned my attention to finishing the sand castle the three of us had been working on. It was almost done; all it needed was a little foundation work and a bit of decoration and I would have made Livy, the sand castle expert, proud.

"Obviously we need to talk about what happened six years ago." Joel finally said, breaking the silence that had descended around us when I started working on the castle again.

"Okay I'll talk about it, but I want you to listen." I ordered in a tone of voice that I recognized as one of my Dad's. "I realize that all thirteen year old boys are assholes; hell I live with one so I know! It's a confusing time and all that shit. You were probably confused about touching yourself and popping a wood in random places. However, that does not make up for ignoring me for the years that followed. I guess what I'm saying is that I can forgive you for calling me a brat and all those other names, but not for basically abandoning me for six years."

Whew, it felt good to get all of that off my chest to him finally. It was true though; his complete absence in my life had hurt more than those few words spoken to me at the beginning of it all. That was mostly because my parents had explained it to me as a phase in a boy's life and at ten years old I figured that he'd grow out of it eventually. So when he never came back around…I was obviously devastated.

"Lala-"

"You haven't earned the right to call me that." I cut him off. "In fact you haven't earned much with me. I realize that I'm your imprint and all of that jazz so yeah I'll agree to see you, but let me tell you this: it is going to take a long time for anything to come out of it."

And with that said I stood up, gathered Livy's toys and headed back home. Yeah, I realized that eventually the imprint would get to me, but I had to actually like the guy before I could fall in love with him. I wasn't going to try and delude myself by thinking that it wouldn't work out that way, because it would. I had only to look at my parents, his parents, and pretty much everyone else to figure that one out.

"How was your day with Joel?" Dad asked as I walked through the door.

"Oh it was super." I replied sarcastically.

"Don't take your sister next time; you're supposed to be bonding with him."

"Well, if we're supposed to 'bond' then he needs to bond with my family too." I shot back.

"Lala, I'm serious."

"You don't look serious in that apron." I chuckled and followed the delicious aroma of Dad's chocolate chip cookies into the kitchen.

"You don't get any until you promise that you won't drag along anyone else on these little days with Joel." Dad stated as he ran into the kitchen and positioned himself in front of the cooling cookies protectively.

Old age was getting to him…seriously. If only the pack could see him now; in an apron and guarding cookies from his sixteen year old daughter.

"Fine, I promise. Now give me a cookie Betty Crocker." I smirked.

***

Jared was not going to be happy about what I had just witnessed. I wasn't about to go tell him, but with the pack mind this was bound to get to all the other active wolves and before we all knew it Jared would end up accidentally phasing and tearing Embry apart. While it would be dramatic and part of me would secretly love it, I did not want to see Addy get hurt; even if that image would be burned into my retinas forever.

My little misadventure had started out rather innocently really. I had grabbed the remaining cookies from the jar before I wandered outside with Stevie following along behind me. I walked down the road a little bit until I heard a strange noise from a little ways inside the forest.

Naturally curiosity got the best of me and I wandered into the forest only to see Addy pressed up against a tree bare-chested with Embry kissing down the side of her neck. I guess that's why they say curiosity killed the cat.

"Oh my gosh!" I couldn't help but declare, which of course caused Stevie to bark and Embry to whip his head around and look at me, which gave me an uninterrupted view of my best friend's breasts.

"Viola!"

"Addy!"

"Viola!"

"Embry!"

After that little dramatic exchange Addy finally had the decency to grab her shirt and clutch it to her chest.

"Well, I think I'll be going now." I said awkwardly and turned to leave with Stevie by my side.

"Lala, don't say anything to anyone please." Addy pleaded quietly.

"I won't; I don't want to see your Dad give up a clean record of not phasing."

Embry flinched at that; he needed a reminder. Jared was deathly serious about his 'no touching my daughter until marriage' rule; Matt had learned that lesson in the past.

With that said I hightailed it out of there. If in the way distant future _if_ I wanted to get physical with Joel I would not let him press me up against a tree where any unsuspecting person could stumble upon us. Seeing your best friend's breasts was almost as bad as seeing your Mom's when they were huge and full of milk…and I had seen my Mom's when she breast fed Livy.

"What's up with you?" Ian asked as I plopped down on the couch next to him while he watched some car program on the TV.

"Nothing to worry your pubescent little mind about." I replied.

Like I was about to tell him I had seen Addy's breasts; he'd probably pop a wood and disappear into the bathroom for ten minutes like he had been lately. Let me tell you, I was happy that Ian had to use the downstairs bathroom for all of his business. Thank you Mom for that house rule.

Sadly, at dinner my discovery came back to haunt me. As I had expected nothing could stay secret for long among us werewolf families. All five of us were gathered around the table when Matt came bursting through the back door dressed in only a pair of cut offs with a few leaves in his hair.

"Jared is about to bust a shit!"

Bust a shit? Oh Uncle Matt. Seriously though…shit, Jared was close to phasing.

"You have to help us calm him down before he phases, Paul. He found out about Embry's extra attention to Addy." Matt continued.

"Alright, I'll hop into the truck and be there in two minutes."

"Let me come with you." I spoke up.

"Why?"

"For Addy."

"Fine, let's go."

Two minutes later we arrived at the residence of drama; me with white knuckles from gripping the door tightly. Dad had not lied when he said he'd be here in two minutes, even if that meant breaking the speed limit significantly.

All active wolves were outside of the house trying to calm down Jared, except for Embry who stood at the other side of the lawn looking on a bit apprehensively. Sam pulled up a minute after us and together he and my Dad approached Jared.

In the mean time I sought out Addy, who was crying against her Mom's chest.

"We didn't have sex!" She cried.

"I know sweetie, but your Dad is upset that he touched you at all." Kim said soothingly.

"I'm not a baby!"

"You're only eighteen and not married." Abby piped up. "I had to follow the rules and so do you. Even though Mom and Dad obviously didn't follow their little rule."

"Abby, that's not helping." Kim chided as she finally noticed I was standing there. "Lala!"

Addy sat up and wiped her eyes before she turned a teary smile on me.

"How did he find out?" I asked nervously.

"Pack mind; Matt saw it and of course told Abby who let it slip to Mom, who let it slip to Dad."

The vicious cycle of imprinting was at work yet again to cause havoc and general drama in the days of our lives. Jeez, it really was like a soap opera around here sometimes with the werewolf stuff as an added bonus.

"You two know something that we don't." Abby said picking up on the silent eye communication that Addy and I were having.

"Lala caught Embry and me in the woods today." Addy sighed.

"She's probably scarred for life." Abby chuckled and I nodded sadly.

"Oh girls, things will be a lot less complicated around here when you guys are older." Kim sighed just as Jared walked back into the house, all of his clothing thankfully intact. He still looked royally pissed, but he didn't look like he wanted to murder Embry anymore.

"Sorry Lala, but we're about to have a family chat." He stated evenly.

"No problem, I'll see you guys later."

Once I was outside I spotted Dad lecturing both Matt and Embry with the help of Sam, so I didn't notice when Joel walked up beside me until his hand came down on my shoulder. I didn't jerk my shoulder away this time, but I did give him a look which caused him to remove his hand on his own.

"I feel like I live in a soap opera sometimes." Joel stated casually.

I had to agree with him on that one so I nodded my head understandingly, "Definitely."

"You ready to go Lala?" Dad called.

"Yup."

With one last glance at Joel I followed my Dad to his truck and hopped inside, ready to go home and get some sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to Forever the Sickest Kids**

**Reviews make me update sooner! Thanks to all of you who do take the time to review.**

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"_When was the last time you talked to me, seriously?_

_It feels like I don't even know you."_

**Breakdown**

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My birthday was coming up and soon I would be seventeen, another step closer to eighteen. I wasn't too excited about my birthday this year, but that was mostly due to two factors. One: I had had an awesome sweet sixteen party last year that I was sure nothing could beat. Two: I felt like when I turned eighteen something was expected of me when it came to Joel. It felt to me like once I turned eighteen they wouldn't be so understanding about my 'disagreement' with Joel anymore.

"So what do you want for your birthday this year?" Addy asked as we watched Stevie chase Livy around the backyard.

"I don't know." I shrugged. "Forget about that for now…how's the new rule going?"

After the incident in June, Addy was only allowed to be with Embry under supervision of any person over twenty years old and if no one was available then they had to go without. Most of the time Abby ended up watching over the two of them, so it wasn't like they were completely restricted from touching.

"Abby is pretty understanding. It's my Mom and Dad I have to watch out for." She shrugged.

I laughed, "So have you had…sex with Embry?"

"No! Dad would kill him! Besides…I think I want to wait until we're married; mostly so I can prove to my Dad that I can hold off."

"Shouldn't it be because it's a special thing?"

"Well that too obviously."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah obviously."

We were silent for a few minutes, with only Livy's laughter and Stevie's barking to fill our ears. Ah to be young and carefree again; your only worries having to do with wetting the bed and wondering where the hell your crayons went. It sure as hell beat being sixteen and worrying about an estranged best friend imprinting on you.

"Today is your day with Joel isn't it?" Addy asked suddenly.

"Yeah, he gets off work in a half hour." I sighed.

"What are you guys doing?"

"I don't know."

"You sound like you're about to be sent to jail or something." Addy chuckled. "I know you don't like him…yet. But you might as well use your time with him as an opportunity to gain things. Like tell him you want ice cream and I can guarantee he'll buy you any kind of ice cream you want."

"You sound like you're talking from experience."

"Of course I am." She grinned. "Well I'll leave you now; have fun."

I spent the last of my free time with Livy until Joel's truck pulled into the driveway and he hopped out with a wide smile on his face. He directed that smile at me, but I just sent him a scowl of my own before I ushered Livy and Stevie inside.

"See you later, Livy."

"Have fun." She giggled as she waved to Joel.

"Not likely." I mumbled as I walked towards his truck.

I knew he heard me, but apparently he chose to ignore it and opened my door for me. Way to be a gentleman, Joel. Maybe Addy was right about using this whole situation to my advantage; ice cream honestly sounded pretty good to me.

"I want ice cream." I stated casually once he was behind the wheel.

"What kind?"

"Cotton Candy." I grinned, but then cringed when I remembered how I was introduced to the deliciousness that was cotton candy ice cream.

I had always loved cotton candy; I mean really… who couldn't love cotton candy? Ever since my Dad had slipped me some at a movie when I was three I had been hooked. Hooked in the sense that I practically shouted 'Cotton Candy' anytime I saw the whipped yumminess.

So naturally since I loved the fluffy stuff, Joel had started to gain an appreciation for it as well. His new found love for the stuff led him to making the discovery in the freezer aisle all those years ago. Since then I had loved the ice cream too, but I hadn't really had the stuff since I was ten.

"Maybe cookie dough instead." I sighed.

Joel looked over at me with a hard look on his face, "No, I know the best place to get cotton candy ice cream."

"Aren't you supposed to do what I want?" I asked a bit angrily. "I want cookie dough."

"No, you don't." He answered simply as he pulled out of the driveway. "You want cotton candy. Whether you like it or not; I know you almost better than you know yourself."

"How can you know me!? You haven't taken the time to be around me since I was ten, and let me tell you that I'm a little different than that. In case you haven't noticed I have breasts and all my thoughts don't circle around building forts."

"Oh I've noticed." He muttered. "So we haven't been best friends in six years, but I knew you for ten years before that; I think that's enough time to know a person. And you want cotton candy, so shut up and have the decency to say thank you when I buy it for you."

I really didn't have anything to say to that for so many different reasons; some of which I didn't even want to begin to explore.

All I knew was that when he presented me with a double scoop cake cone full of cotton candy ice cream I did have the decency to say thank you even though it was not graced with a smile. He smiled though and then proceeded to shove his face full of his own cotton candy ice cream.

***

"What kind of cake would you like for your birthday?" Dad asked at dinner.

My Dad was the baker of our family, and he was damn good at it too. He had learned all of his skills from Mom and my Grandma Hanner, but unlike the two of them he really really enjoyed it. I mean enjoyed it to the point that he customized an apron for himself so he didn't have to wear a floral one and blocked off the kitchen when he was baking. Luckily I had managed to take pictures of him on several different occasions.

"Chocolate on-"

"Chocolate with star sprinkles." Mom and Dad finished in unison.

"Jeez, am I really that predictable?"

"That's been your cake of choice since you were four." Dad smiled.

"What's my cake?" Livy asked.

"Chocolate on white with every inch covered in sprinkles." He replied. "And Ian is boring and just likes lemon cake with no frosting."

"Ruins the integrity of the cake." He mumbled.

What a thirteen year old; although I was surprised he knew the word 'integrity'.

"How was your day with Joel, honey?" Mom asked casually which of course caught my Dad's attention immediately.

He was dead serious about my spending time with Joel, and he was dead serious about me being nice to him too. Well I couldn't exactly guarantee that second part now could I?

"Fine, we got ice cream." I shrugged.

"Cotton candy?" Mom smiled.

"Maybe."

"Why are you getting defensive, Lala?" Dad chuckled.

"Be quiet! I'm not hungry anymore, Mom. Is it okay if I go upstairs?"

"As long as you don't stuff two of your Dad's cookies into your mouth later."

And that was my exit cue even though I had every intention of possibly shoving three of Dad's pecan sandies in my mouth later. Shortbread is my weakness…well that and cotton candy…and salt and vinegar Pringles, and red starburst, and grape skittles, and many more things that I probably should not eat at all.

"I mean it, Viola!" Mom called after me.

What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

***

I didn't really want to see Joel again before next week but of course fate intervened and the Uley's suddenly decided to have a barbeque on Saturday to make an announcement. Hopefully it wouldn't be anything too dramatic; like Emily being pregnant or something. Even though I knew that was highly doubtful, the little drama queen in me loved the idea.

"Are you ready yet, Lala?" Dad called up the stairs impatiently.

I usually did not take a long time getting ready, but for some reason today I couldn't decide what to wear and how to do my hair. It's not like it mattered, but then again some part of me was screaming at me that it did matter.

So after three different outfits I finally settled for my pair of favorite shorts, which reached just above my knee, and my favorite star printed t-shirt. As for my hair I had somehow managed to tame the stupid wavy mess into loose curls.

Of course when I took all this extra time on my appearance I should have realized that my Dad would notice right away.

"Whoa, what's the occasion?"

"Paul, leave her alone."

"Yeah, maybe I just want to look nice." I shot back as he ushered us out of the house.

"For a certain wolf?" He grinned deviously.

"NO!"

"Whatever you say."

Apparently he wasn't the only one to notice; as soon as we arrived Addy corned me and wanted to know what brought on the sudden change in my appearance. Seriously, was it so wrong to want to look nice once in a while?

That wasn't the worst of it though; as soon as I stepped outside Joel's gaze zeroed in on me and once our eyes locked I was practically frozen in place. I couldn't move at all; our gazes were locked and what I saw in his made me shiver involuntarily.

"Everyone gather 'round!" Sam yelled, finally breaking the stare- fest Joel and I were having.

I personally was relieved and immediately made a beeline for my Mother, knowing that Joel probably would keep his distance. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he came to stand next to his parents, sister, and Jake.

"Alright, we've brought you all here to celebrate my engagement to Bee!" Jake beamed.

Okay, less dramatic than I would have liked, but still a pretty good announcement even though we all knew it was coming. I had a feeling they would be married before the end of the year because it was getting harder and harder for Jake to hold back with her just like it was starting to with both Matt and Abby and Embry and Addy.

I guess the only thing that surprised me about the announcement was the fact that Jake had beaten my uncle Matt to it. Abby was older than Bee was, but then again Sam was a lot more understanding with Jake than Jared was with Matt and Embry. Poor guys.

"When's the wedding?" I asked as I embraced Bee.

"We're thinking of a December wedding." She smiled. "We're both eager to get out on our own."

I grinned, "I bet you are."

She blushed, "You'll understand in a few years with Joel."

My face fell at the thought of that, but Bee was sweet enough not to say anything further about the subject. I was pretty sure she didn't like the way I treated her brother, but she would never snub me.

Thankfully the awkward moment was broken up by Livy grabbing my hand and dragging me away to the old sandbox that I had plenty of memories of. It was one of those ones that came with a lid to keep out the out the weather and was shaped like a turtle.

Livy had already started to carve out a sand castle and as we approached I saw Joel helping her fill her moat with a glass of water.

"Joel said we had to let you put the flag in the top." Livy stated as she held up the little lego flag that probably had been left in the sand from all those years ago when Joel and I had made sand castles together. And although I had enjoyed carving the turrets, my favorite part had always been putting the flag at the top.

My eyes met Joel's as I took the little red flag from Livy's fingers. I wasn't angry at him at the moment, just sort of indifferent and I think my face showed that. But he smiled at me anyway and watched happily as I stuck the flag into the castle.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to Madina Lake**

**Thanks for all of the reviews! I think at one point I got four reviews in like a minute; it was great.**

* * *

"_Come on, come on_

_Let's get outta here!"_

**Let's Get Outta Here**

* * *

It was the day before my birthday, which my parents had planned a party for, and I felt like crap. I had gone to bed the night before in a good mood, feeling completely normal and now I felt like I was about to barf.

What kind of crap was this? You don't get sick in the summer, you just don't. Sickness is for the fall and winter when you can miss days of school and watch TV on the couch. It just wasn't as fulfilling lying on the couch sick in the middle of summer knowing that everyone else was probably doing the same thing completely healthy.

"Aren't you supposed to have your day with Joel today since the party is tomorrow?" Dad questioned as he walked into the living room to grab him wallet off the mantel.

"I don't feel good today." I said quietly.

He rolled his eyes, "Don't try to play sick on me, Lala. I used to pull all of the tricks."

"Dad! I feel like I'm going to barf!"

He walked over and placed a hand on my forehead; he could do that now that he wasn't really a wolf anymore and his body temperature had gone down to normal. When I was a small child my Mom had always done it for just that reason.

"You don't have a fever, so go get dressed and have fun with Joel." He stated before he walked out of the house for work.

So even though I was pretty sure I would probably throw it up; I ate some applesauce and made my way upstairs to get dressed. Sure enough once I was out of my pajamas and into some shorts and a shirt I had to run to the bathroom to throw up the applesauce.

Unfortunately for me no one was around to witness it since Mom had taken Ian and Livy to the dentist at eight. So that meant that even though I had just ruined applesauce for the rest of my life I still had to go out and do 'stuff' with Joel. Dad definitely was not getting a '# 1 Dad' mug for Christmas this year.

After the applesauce fiasco I crashed on the couch and waited for Joel to come. Stevie lay at my feet while I waited and ran to the door as soon as Joel pulled into the driveway. I waited a few minutes before I dragged myself off the couch and went outside to meet him.

"What's wrong with you? Are you alright?" Joel asked as soon as I was in the truck.

"Yeah I'm fine; just tired."

Not exactly a lie; I was tired. I could tell he didn't believe me though, but that didn't stop him from pulling out of the drive way and heading towards the beach.

"I thought we'd have a picnic at the beach." He stated lamely as he spread the blanket in the sand and set the basket of food down.

"I don't want any food." I moaned as he opened the basket to reveal a shit load of sandwiches and chips. Normally I would have snatched one of those up knowing that he was a walking garbage disposal, but instead I just groaned at the sight of it.

"You need to drink some water." Joel urged and held a bottle out to me.

I took it and started to sip at it while he wolfed down sandwich after sandwich. We were silent as he ate and as we sat there I developed a pain in my side. It sort of felt like I pulled a muscle which was weird since I hadn't done much physical activity. Unless you counted the flailing I did last night in my room, but that would have hurt last night not in the middle of the next day.

I moved a little experimentally and immediately regretted it as the sharp pain intensified in my side.

"Lala, what's wrong?"

"I just don't feel good is all." I replied.

"Bull shit; I'm taking you home."

He didn't leave room for argument after that. He made quick work of the blanket and basket before he helped me walk back to the truck. Normally I would have protested his arm around my waist, but at this point I didn't really care.

Mom, Ian, and Livy still weren't home when Joel helped me into the house so he helped me down on the couch and then stared down at me.

"I'm staying with you."

"I'm fine." I protested.

"Yeah, you look fine." He replied sarcastically. "I'm calling your Dad."

"He didn't believe me when I told him I didn't feel good earlier." I stated as Joel marched over to the phone.

"Well he will now."

I watched as he dialed his Dad's cell phone number, which was the only way to get a hold of any of the guys while they were on the job. After a few minutes my Dad must have finally gotten on the phone because Joel started talking again.

"Something is wrong with Viola." He stated. "No…she's not faking…yes I'm sure. Dammit Paul this is your daughter!...Sorry sir, but she is really sick and your wife is gone…I'll call my Mom …alright bye."

"What did he say?"

"I'm calling my Mom." Joel answered.

I then listened to him explain to Emily what my symptoms were. I honestly thought this was just some sort of bug with a case of a badly pulled muscle, but by the look on Joel's face he had me thinking I was knocking on death's door. Hypochondriacs and illness did not mix well.

"Joel, what's wrong with me!?"

"Shh, you're fine." He soothed before he kneeled down next to me.

"The look on your face says otherwise."

"I'm just overreacting, but we need to take you to the ER, Lala."

"The hospital?!"

"Mom thinks you may have appendicitis, but she's not sure since you don't seem to be in intolerable pain."

"I'm in pain, but it's not too bad." I shrugged. "So no hospital."

"Nope."

With that said Joel slid his arms under my body and gently lifted me up and against his body. I was pretty scared at the moment, so I did the natural thing regardless of my current standing with him; I snuggled into his chest.

***

"Okay, I'm going to press on your left side and release and I want you to tell me if it hurts on the other side." **(A/N: I think that's how it went…it's been a while since I had it.)**

Joel moved closer to the bed and grabbed my hand as the doctor positioned his hands and pressed down on my side. Sure enough when he released I had to hold back my scream of pain.

"Yeah that definitely hurt." I replied a little teary eyed, to which Joel squeezed my hand.

"Now, on a scale of one to ten what is your pain right now?"

"Six."

"Well we're going to do a CAT scan and if your appendix is inflamed like I think it is we'll take it out, but we're going to need a parent here to sign off on that."

"Don't worry; her Dad is on his way." Joel told the Doctor before he exited the examination room.

"Surgery!? What if I wake up like Hayden Christensen did in that one movie but no one knows it!? And they're going to see me naked!"

"Calm down." Joel soothed. "Hopefully your morphine kicks in soon."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"You need to relax; you're going to be fine. Appendectomies are pretty routine stuff."

"That's easy for you to say with your super wolfy body." I rolled my eyes just as the door burst open and Dad came running through.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you, Lala!" He cried and placed a kiss on my forehead. "Your Mom, brother and sister are on their way here now. Joel, what's going on?"

"They want to do a CAT scan."

So while I slipped into a morphine induced little cat nap Joel and my Dad talked as if I wasn't even there…which in a way I wasn't. I woke back up when a couple nurses came in to take me to the room with the CAT scan. They were about to pick me up and put me on the other bed when Joel quickly stepped in and did it effortlessly.

An hour later I was being prepped for surgery. Thankfully my Mom had gotten there and I had proceeded to cry all over her. I didn't want to have a surgery; that's like an hour of your life that you have no memory of and that you'll never get back.

"Alright Viola, I want you to count back from 100."

"One hundred, ninety nine, ninety eight…"

***

Holy shit someone had cold hands. I slowly opened my eyes and waited a few seconds while my eyes focused on the clock on the opposite wall. Sure enough an hour had passed and I had no memory of any of it. While I was pondering what could have happened while I was out besides the removal, two nurses worked on removing the heart monitor stuff from my chest. Which meant my breasts were just hanging out there.

"How are you feeling, Viola?" One of the, thankfully, female nurses asked.

"Tired and a bit disorientated."

"We're almost done here and then we'll move you up to your room for the night. And then you can see your family."

"Tomorrow is my birthday." I sighed as I remembered that tomorrow was in fact my seventeenth birthday.

"Maybe you'll get some extra presents." She smiled.

She did have a point. I could definitely see this whole appendix stuff working out for me for at least three weeks, or however long it took for me to recover fully from this ordeal. Especially with Joel; hell I could probably milk him for a couple months! Cue evil laughter.

The morphine drip was really getting to me.

"Lala! Ian said you were having a brain operation!"

"Ian!" Mom scolded.

What a little jack ass.

He just shrugged before he gave me his classic 'I love you, but don't want to say it out loud' look. Ah, little brothers are so great. Livy on the other hand had to be held back from jumping up into my bed by Dad and instead settled for placing kisses all over my face.

Mom treated me just about the same and Dad gave me the best bear hug he could without hurting me. And then Joel walked into the room with an arrangement of balloons in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other.

"Oh! That's so sweet of you Joel!" Mom gushed before she pulled him into a hug. "Thank you for getting her here before her appendix burst."

"It was no problem, Mrs. Mire, you know that." He smiled before he set his gifts down and headed towards my bed.

What happened next was definitely produced by the pain killer and the fact that I had pretty much had a near death experience…at least in my books.

"I'm such a jerk to you, Joel. So I didn't really deserve how you helped me today." I smiled cautiously. "I'd say that I've started to forgive you now."

"Really?"

"Don't get your hopes up too much. You started at negative two and now you're at one; you've still got to make your way to ten before you're completely forgiven."

He grinned, "That's just fine with me."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to All American Rejects.**

**It came to my attention that there is some confusion on who is related to whom. So here's a little list to help.**

**Paul and Natalie Mire:**

**Kids: Viola (17), Ian(13 almost 14), and Oliva(6 almost 7)**

**Jared and Kim:**

**Kids: Abby(20) and Addie(18) (confusing yes, but it fit with Kim's character)**

**Sam and Emily Uley:**

**Kids: Joel(20) and Beatrice (Bee…18)**

**Matt Hanner (Natalie's Brother) : Imprinted on Abby**

**Embry Call: Imprinted on Addy**

**Jacob Black: Imprinted on Beatrice**

**Thanks for all of the reviews and I hope this helps, but if all else fails you can always go back to 'When You Go' for answers.**

* * *

"_I picked down your star _

_Turned night to day_

_A simple whisper from your voice and I fade away."_

**Your Star**

* * *

Dad spent the night in the hospital with me on a crappy hospital cot, so I woke up to the sight of him snoring in what appeared to be a very uncomfortable position for such a large man. I felt bad, but also very loved at the same time. He gave up the comfort of his King size bed and Mom's arms for me.

"Dad?" I called gently.

"Huh!? What?!" He yelled as he jerked upright. "Are you alright?"

I started to laugh but immediately bit my finger when I felt pains in my side from my giggling. Well that sucked; I couldn't even laugh without pain…for the foreseeable future at least. That was going to be hard with my doofo of a Dad around.

"I think the question is, are you alright?" I grinned.

Dad just gave me a look before he stood up and straightened his clothes. A few minutes later a nurse walked in with some jell-o and sherbet for me and some papers for my Dad. Hopefully I would be out of this place before noon because I did not want to spend my birthday in a hospital.

Thankfully an hour later Dad was helping me into his truck and we were on our way home. Luckily Dad had already gotten my prescription filled at the hospital pharmacy and had me pop one as we left the parking lot. At least I wouldn't be in too much pain when I got to eat birthday cake.

As we pulled into the driveway I saw something I really hadn't expected to see; extra cars.

"Dad! They can't see me like this! I look like shi-crap!"

"You just had a surgery, they'll understand."

"I stink!"

"I don't smell anything." He shrugged.

"You're such a guy."

"I'd like to think so." Dad chuckled before he got out of the truck and came around to my side to help me out.

Yeah I didn't want to see the rest of the gang looking like I did, but what choice did I have? At least Dad had had the common sense to bring me a hair brush and a hair tie.

"Happy Birthday!" Everyone chorused as Dad helped me into the house and to the easy chair.

"Present time!" Livy squealed as she came running in from the kitchen.

A quick look around the living room revealed that pretty much everyone was here. All the young imprint couples were snuggled up together on the couch and the older couples were sitting in dining room chairs that had been moved in. My siblings were sprawled out on the floor with Stevie and Joel was missing…not that I was too worried about that.

"You need to open ours first." Mom smiled as she handed me two small boxes.

I smiled and tore into the smaller one first and saw a sterling silver ring with my birth stone in the middle. Mom had obviously been behind that one. The second box contained a set of keys to which I looked over at my Dad eagerly.

He just grinned and pulled aside the curtain so I could see the little red car with the giant bow on top.

"We had Jacob completely rebuild it for you." Dad said proudly.

"It runs like it's brand new." Jake said proudly.

"Thank you so much!" I gushed.

A car of my own; a present I had expected on my sixteenth birthday and resigned myself to never receiving. I really didn't need the car, but it was nice to have an escape; especially with college around the corner.

After that Joel walked inside with a suspicious box in his hands and sat down on the floor next to Livy. He smiled at me, but since I was no longer under the effects of morphine I quickly turned my attention to my other gifts.

"Alright, Joel's is the last one." Mom said as she picked up crumpled wrapping paper from the floor.

I had to admit that I was excited to see what was inside the box but it wasn't because it was from him; it was because of the box. It looked heavier than what was normal and it was designed so all I had to do was pull the top off, and upon closer inspection it appeared to have holes in it. Could it possibly be…

"Puppy!" Livy shrieked once the lid was removed and the little beagle stuck its head up to investigate the room full of people.

I'd like to say that I acted my age, but as soon as I saw that baby beagle I melted.

"Puppy!" I gushed and tried to bend down to pick it up.

I realized that was a mistake when pain shot through my body.

"Here, I've got him." Joel smiled as he picked up the black, brown, and white beagle and placed him in my lap.

Stevie moved closer and stuck his head in my lap, sniffing my new puppy curiously. He didn't look offended, so that was good. The puppy however, was a little scared so I held him closer.

"Did you name him?" I asked.

"No, he's your present." Joel replied as I stroked the puppy's velvety ears.

Everyone waited and watched as I thought of a good name for my new puppy. I didn't want to be like my Dad and name him a human name. My puppy was too cute to be a Steve or a Stevie. He definitely was a…

"Brownie." I smiled.

***

The puppy was definitely the best gift I had received for my birthday. Not only was he already house broken thanks to Joel, but he also was partially trained which was also thanks to Joel. Another perk was that he slept with me at night. The only downside was that he was a beagle and therefore stinky which meant that I would have to give him more baths.

Even though I loved Brownie, I didn't want Joel to automatically assume that buying me an adorable puppy put him back in my good graces. He had already made it to a one with the whole appendix fiasco and with the partially trained puppy he had earned himself a four; obviously I was feeling generous. Generous enough that I was willing to let him back in…just a little.

"Alright, I have to be honest." I began as the two of us sat in the living room watching Brownie chew on one of the toys Mom had already bought for him. Since I had just gotten my stitches out we had decided to stay at the house since Mom had taken Ian and Livy along with her grocery shopping.

"About what?"

"I want to start talking to you like we used to." I said quietly.

"You mean like when you used to pour your secret fantasies about Jared to me?" He grinned.

"Shut up! I was seven!"

It was true; when I was younger I had had the biggest crush on Jared. He was good looking, nice to me, and he didn't walk around in an apron like my Dad did most of the time. Not that that made him less manly or anything.

"Don't worry I haven't told anyone else."

I sighed, "I mean, I'm not about to pour my secrets to you, but just talking about things is nice."

"Does this mean I've moved up on your forgiveness scale?" Joel asked knowingly.

"Brownie gave you three more points." I shrugged.

"So I'm at four now?"

"Yeah, but don't let it get to your head. You still haven't earned the right to call me Lala yet."

"Understood." He nodded. "When do I earn that right?"

"I'll let you know, but anyway I think some cotton candy ice cream is in order."

"Is it in the freezer?"

I smiled, "Yup."

Joel rolled his eyes before he stood up and headed into the kitchen with Brownie trailing behind him with his toy clutched in his mouth.

***

"So guess whose happy howling I heard last night?" Dad grinned as he practically sashayed into the kitchen where I was eating one of the peanut butter cookies he had made last night. I just shot him a look and continued to eat my cookie.

"Joel's." He continued. "Seems like you've decided to let him in just a little bit at least that's what Matt tells me."

"Key words: just a little bit." I clarified with an eye roll for emphasis.

"It is only a matter of time, child of mine." Paul chuckled as Mom walked into the kitchen and smacked him on the back of the head. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Leave her alone."

"Thanks Mom." I smiled. "It's like I told Joel, he still has a ways to go, so just cool your jets."

Both of my parents nodded but already they were too wrapped up in each other. After Mom had smacked him she had of course felt bad and started to rub his head and now I could tell they were just minutes away from a lip lock. That was my exit cue.

"Don't surprise us again like you did with Livy." I said as I walked out of the kitchen and into the living room where Stevie and Brownie were playing.

It was cute to watch; Stevie kept nudging him with his big nose and Brownie would try to attack him, growling at him with his cute little puppy growl.

"Alright boys, who wants to go on a walk?"

Stevie immediately perked up and headed towards the door. Brownie, still a baby, had no idea what I was talking about but followed after Stevie nonetheless. After I put a leash on the both of them we headed outside. Brownie started to bark excitedly, his nose to the ground. Ah the joys of hound dogs. Stevie was content to stroll along with us, but at soon as Brownie started to run towards a tree he followed right along.

Of course all they had to do was pee…and well Brownie tried to get a squirrel. Key word; tried. It was funny watching the squirrel stroll along while Brownie barked like mad at it. He kept barking despite my attempts to silence him until Joel came running out of the woods half dressed.

"Um what are you doing here?" I asked before I thought it through. Whoa, that sounded bitchy. "I meant to say that you were here yesterday…"

"I know." He smiled. "I heard Brownie barking and I wanted to come investigate."

"So you were close by?"

He nodded.

"In wolf form?"

He nodded again.

"Listening in to what was happening here?" I quirked an eyebrow.

"No! Not anything on the inside! Just the dogs!"

"See you later Joel." I stated before I turned around and led both of the dogs into the house.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to Forever the Sickest Kids. ****Thanks for all the reviews. Sorry I didn't update sooner but I was distracted this weekend studying for two exams and writing an essay.**

* * *

"_Whoa oh, whoa whoa oh why do I put myself in these situations?_

_Whoa oh, whoa whoa oh I keep pushing myself even though I can't take it at all."_

**Whoa Oh! (Me vs. Everyone)**

* * *

Today was another day with Joel and for some reason I had woken up extra early. It was only eight and Joel wasn't going to be here for another couple of hours, but my body had decided it was time to wake up anyway. So that's how I found myself headed down the stairs and into the hallway that led to the kitchen. I was about to walk in when I heard voices. One was my Mom, but the other was Uncle Matt and they were talking in whispers.

"Jared is going to kill me, Nat." Matt sighed heavily.

"Not if you do the right thing." Mom assured him. "After all, didn't he do the same thing?"

"Well I was going to do the right thing, but I don't want anyone to think I'm doing it just because she's pregnant."

My eyes widened and I couldn't help the little sound I let out that I knew would immediately notify Uncle Matt of my location.

"Get in here, Lala." He sighed.

I walked in and sat down across from him right away. He looked troubled, but I guess I would be too if my girlfriend was pregnant and her Dad was the protective sort; that was the understatement of the year.

"You can't tell anyone." Mom said sternly. "Joel probably already knows, but no one else."

"Yeah the pack knows and I have to act fast before one of them spills their guts." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Well you said you were already planning on marrying her right?" I asked to which he nodded. "Then just ask her to marry you and you guys can get married."

"It's more complicated than that, Lala. We'll have to tell her Dad-"

"And he'll want you to do right by his daughter." I finished.

Mom smiled, "She's right, and besides I don't think Bee will mind if they get married around the same time. How far along did you say she was?"

"She just found out she's a month along."

"You've got time."

Man, I loved this drama! Why watch 'reality' shows when you could just sit back and watch as drama unfolded around you? Of course it wasn't always entertaining especially when you're directly involved. But in this case I wasn't, so I was free to enjoy it at my leisure.

"Good luck Uncle Matt; I'd take reinforcements when you guys tell Jared." And with that I made my exit.

***

"Abby is pregnant!" I giggled excitedly as soon as Joel and I were in his truck down the road from my house.

"I know; I heard Matt thinking about it last night." Joel replied. "I can just imagine Jared's reaction when he finds out."

"Poor Uncle Matt." I sighed. "Oh shit, he's gonna lock Addy up."

"Good, Embry does not shield his thoughts very well when it comes to her." Joel shuddered. "Too graphic for me."

"Have they?"

"No, and that's all I'm going to say on that subject. So, you up for ice cream?"

"Always."

***

The next few weeks were definitely eventful. Matt and Abby made their announcement to her parents, but they happened to leave out the baby part. They had decided that they'd let them think the baby was conceived while they were engaged. I had to laugh at that; we all knew that the truth would come out eventually. As for Addy, she wasn't locked away yet.

Besides that there was another vampire trail that caused excitement for about a day and had Ian thinking he was about to morph into a wolf; what a doofo. I personally hoped that he never became a wolf; he was one of those geeky science kids that would thrive at college and I wanted him to have that opportunity.

And before I knew it, it was already the middle of August. My senior year of high school was about to start, Matt and Abby were getting married at the courthouse soon, and Mom kept pushing college pamphlets at me.

"I can't believe I've waited this long for my little brother's wedding and it's at the courthouse." Mom sighed.

"You? How do you think I feel?" Grandma Hanner sighed. "At least one of my children got married the right way."

Then she turned to me with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Oh no.

"At least I still have Viola. You'll get married the proper way right?"

"Um…I guess."

"Mom, don't say anything else." My Mom scolded.

Grandma Hanner could be pretty blunt sometimes; she definitely had not mellowed with age. If anything she got worse. When I was twelve and had my first period she practically announced it to the whole store that I now had the capabilities to make babies and better not have sex at twelve years old. I guess I had to thank my lucky stars that my Mom hadn't turned out that way.

Thankfully Grandma Mire was the complete opposite to balance out the craziness of my maternal Grandmother.

"Oh look, there's my future Grandson-in-law now!"

Oh shoot me in the face with a shot gun. I knew that no matter what volume of voice she used Joel would have heard it, but when she blared it out in a half yell the whole gathered crowd got to hear that little declaration.

"Mom! You're only supposed to embarrass your children, not your children's children."

I walked away then before she could embarrass me further. The ceremony was supposed to start in five minutes, so at least she would be quiet then.

"Having fun with your Grandma?" Joel smirked.

"Ha freaking ha." I rolled my eyes. "It's bad enough everyone heard, so let's just not talk about it alright?"

"Okay." He laughed.

"Don't laugh at me."

"It's hard not to when you have that look on your face."

I immediately tried to school my features which caused him to laugh even more. Well if that was how he was going to be, then I wasn't going to deal with it. Instead I took my seat next to Livy and hoped someone else would take the seat beside me. But of course I couldn't get that lucky; Joel sat down next to me with that dumb little grin on his face still.

All was quiet and then an episode of 'Days of our lives' started right in the court house.

"You're pregnant?!"

Everyone's head whipped around almost in unison to see Abby, Matt, Jared and Kim having a face off at the doors. Luckily due to the fact that we were at the courthouse there weren't a lot of people here to witness this little drama. But luckily I was.

"You just couldn't keep your hands off of her could you?!" Jared yelled. "You've taken her away from me since she was a toddler and you couldn't just give me this?" Then he whirled on Embry and Addy who were sitting nearby. "And he's going to do it next! My daughters have never been mine! They've always been yours!"

With that said Jared stormed away with Kim close behind calling his name. Wow, that wasn't as exciting as I had thought it would be. Yeah, it had been dramatic, but I actually felt really bad for Jared. Both of his daughters had been imprinted on early in life and he had never just been the sole male figure in their lives. I could definitely see where his anger was coming from and in fact I was kind of angry at my Uncle Matt and Embry myself.

"The wedding is off!" Abby cried, tears streaming down her face.

Matt tried to comfort her, but she pushed him away and instead headed straight for the arms of her little sister. Together, the sisters followed after their parents leaving the rest of us staring after them in awkward silence.

"I usually enjoy drama, but that was not…fun." Joel whispered.

I nodded my head in agreement. It was settled; I was never going to do that to my Father. I was going to be a virgin when I married Joel. Because let's face it; I knew I was going to marry him someday…it was only a matter of time. Yeah, my Dad had had me for sixteen years unlike Jared had, but I didn't want to disappoint him.

"Lala, Joel, will you take Ian and Livy home while we deal with Matt?" Dad asked.

The two of us nodded and gathered up my siblings…well Joel gathered Livy into his arms and I grabbed Ian's arm. All four of us were silent as we headed to Joel's truck, but once we were inside and on the road Livy looked up at me with watery eyes.

"They're still in love right?"

"Of course they are, Livy. Sometimes love is a bumpy road and right now they hit a bump." I told her gently. "But just like the road smoothes out eventually so will their relationship."

She nodded and I looked up just in time to see Joel send me a meaningful glance. Hold on there buddy; we were not in love. Yes, we had definitely hit a bump but that was in our relationship as friends! We had to smooth out that relationship before love could even be contemplated.

"I know what you're thinking; you don't need to say it." He stated casually. "And I know."

***

"Hey, I thought I would check in on you guys." I said into the phone.

Addy sighed, "We had a long talk with just the four of us tonight, and it was nice. After Dad cooled down he told Abby that he wanted to give her away at a proper wedding and that he didn't care how pregnant she was as long as she promised she was happy."

"Aw, that's so sweet."

"Well there's nothing he can do about her now, but me…well we had some words on my relationship with Embry. I decided that I don't want to do that to my Dad. So there will be no more sneaking around for me and only a bit of kissing and touching until we're married."

"Are you sure you can do it?"

She sighed, "I asked myself the same question, but I saw the look on Dad's face today. He was disappointed and I don't want to put that look on his face."

"I'm proud of you, Addy; for realizing that."

She chuckled, "Look at you sounding all mature."

"I learn from those around me; I'm an observer."

"Well, keep observing Lala, because I can guarantee that in a few months you'll be fighting with some of these emotions yourself; especially those hormones."

"Anywhoo, did Abby talk to Matt?"

"Yeah and they set a proper wedding day for November seventh and I'm maid of honor."

"Good, I'm glad. It took my Mom and Dad a while to calm him down after the little incident."

"It looks like it's all going to work out." Addy said.

"Hopefully it stays that way."

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to All Time Low**

**Thanks for all the great reviews, after I read most of them I went on a writing spree which I'm sure will make all of you happy.**

* * *

"_You've got me thinking that_

_lately I've been wishing the television set_

_will show me more than just a picture of the things I've grown to detest."_

**Poppin' Champagne**

* * *

The week before school started back up was always a hectic one in our family. Mom spent most of her days at the elementary school getting her classroom ready for her new class of third graders, while Dad took us shopping for school supplies. He used to be really bad at it, but now he was a pro. Livy even allowed him to pick out outfits for her.

But I knew that this week was going to be even more hectic than normal and that was because I had to work in time to see Joel and my parents were breathing down my neck about filling out applications for college. Well, Mom was and Dad just kind of nodded his head about it.

I knew that I wanted to go to college, but I didn't know where and I wasn't even sure what I wanted to do. It was too hard to decide on just any old career considering the fact that my relationship with Joel would keep me in La Push for the rest of my life. So basically my options were school teacher, or store clerk? Neither sounded like a good idea to me.

"Lala, come in here for a minute!" Mom called from the living room before I could slip up the stairs undetected.

I sighed and headed into the living room where Mom and Dad were seated on the couch with their game faces on. Oh great I was about to receive some sort of talk; I could only thank my lucky stars that it wasn't the sex talk. That uncomfortable talk had happened a few years ago and I was extremely glad that it wouldn't be repeated.

"We wanted to talk to you about college." Mom began as she held out some pamphlets to me.

"I am planning on college, guys; if that's what you're worried about." I rolled my eyes.

"We're worried about where and for what." Dad stated. "You can't be too far away because of your relationship with Joel."

"Oh, so Joel is more important than my education? I'm not about to become some housewife to him."

"Viola," Mom said quietly, but quite effectively, "You know as well as I do that you can't go out of the state for more than just Joel as a reason. We have to think money here too, and what you want to do."

"What the hell am I going to be here in La Push? I don't want to be a teacher like you!"

"Well that's what you need to be thinking about in the next month so you can start applying."

"I know!" I yelled. "Okay? Just get off my back!"

With that said I started to get up and was planning on storming up the stairs when Dad used that tone of voice on me; the tone of voice that usually preceded a spanking when I was young. I hadn't been spanked since I was seven, but I still had heard that tone of voice plenty of times and it did not promise unicorns and daisies…that's for sure.

"Stop."

I halted immediately.

"You do not raise your voice like that to your parents, understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Apologize to your Mother, take the pamphlets and go to your room for the rest of the night please."

"I'm sorry Mom." I said quietly as I scooped up the stupid pamphlets.

I was pissed, but I didn't let that show again until I was in my bedroom. I knew better than to slam my door but that didn't stop my pillow from being thrown across the room at high speed…or one of the stupid stuffed wolves that had been a present from my Dad.

Didn't they think I knew everything they were telling me? I didn't want to have to think about it more than I already was! The idea of college is scary, especially after growing up in a small town like mine. I honestly didn't know how well I would do there. My best friends had been made for me already before I was even born; I didn't even know if I could make friends on my own! Besides that I wasn't sure if I was even smart enough for college.

Yeah, I had a four point in my little reservation high school, but tons of other kids did too and in advanced classes! The only advanced class at La Push high school was senior English, which I had taken last year as a junior. Hell, this year they didn't even have an English class for me so the teacher was going to work one on one with me.

So, obviously the subject was a very touchy one and I did not need to have it flashed in my face every day by my parents. I knew that I couldn't ignore it forever, but I just wanted to enjoy my last few days of summer.

***

"So school starts soon." Joel stated casually.

"Yup." I answered shortly.

"I'm starting at Dad's construction business soon since turning into a wolf has ruined college for me."

"Yup."

"What is wrong with you?" He asked as he turned to face me on the rock we were sitting on by the ocean.

Last night had been the big 'fight' with my parents about my future plans. If that hadn't been enough I had barely gotten any sleep, so today I was basically a super jerk.

"Nothing."

"Is it about school?"

I shrugged.

"That's a yes." He stated. "Is it about college?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what about it has got you all worried? I'm not going to flatter myself by thinking it's me."

I chuckled at that and decided to take pity on the poor guy since he was trying to be helpful, "My parents and I had a fight last night about it. I just don't like talking about it about the time. I don't know where I want to go and I don't know what I want to do."

"Well, what are you good at?" He asked simply. "If I remember correctly you love to read, and you always seemed to do best in English."

"Yeah…I guess there's that."

"Viola, you don't have to know what you want to be as soon as you go to college. You can take different classes to decide what you like and are good at."

I nodded; he was right. I didn't really know what I wanted to do, but I didn't think my parents would care if I had a year to figure it all out…as long as I was doing well in the classes I was taking. But with that worry aside, there was still my fear of going away to a new place. I didn't want to be too far away from everyone, but I already knew community college was out of the question.

"What else are you worried about…distance?"

It was freaky that he knew almost exactly was on my mind.

"University of Washington is only in Seattle; that's not too far away." Joel stated casually. "And isn't that where your Mom went?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sure that would satisfy her." He chuckled. "Anyway, you have months to think about all of this stuff, in the mean time you should tell your parents you're going to do research and enjoy what is left of your summer."

For the first time today, I smiled.

"On a rock?" I questioned as I gestured down at our makeshift chair.

"Well, what do you want to do?"

"Build a sand castle."

He smirked and plunged his hand into his pocket. I was worried about what he was going to pull out for a second until he pulled out the little red lego flag.

"I was hoping you would say that."

***

Joel had made it to a number six on my scale completely by surprise. After we had our talk on the beach I had gone home and talked to my parents about everything I was worried about with college. They were a lot more understanding towards me then and I had to thank Joel for that.

He probably deserved to be a seven, but since I had caught him in the woods spying on me that had kind of put him down a few. If he watched me during the day who was to say that he didn't watch through my window at night like a creepy stalker? Hell, he could be watching while I changed! With that in mind I started to close my shades every time I was in my room; dressed or not.

The rest of the days of summer flew by quickly filled with walks with Brownie and Stevie and getting everything organized for the first day of school. My schedule had arrived in the mail and thankfully it was actually correct for once in my four years of high school. Everything was normal for a senior at La Push high school except for my last hour which was my personalized English Class with the new English teacher Mr. Reid. I could only hope that he was as good as a teacher as old Mrs. Picket was.

"Viola! Time to get up!" Mom yelled down the hall from her bedroom.

"I am!" I called back as I finished pulling on my jeans.

Hadn't she heard me in the shower ten minutes ago? I was way ahead of her. If there was one thing about me, it was that I hated being late. In fact I usually arrived places at least a half hour early. Yeah, sometimes it really sucked, but it was better than being late.

Once I had breakfast and my bag on my back I called out a goodbye to my family and headed towards my new car. I had only driven it a few times since my birthday but today was especially exciting for the two of us. Today everyone would see me get out of this lovely red car and know it was mine.

"Hey!"

I jumped and spun around only to see Joel standing there grinning, shirtless with that just off patrol look about him. In other words he had leaves in his hair and his feet were caked in mud.

"Mind not scaring me?"

"Sorry, I just wanted to wish you good luck on your first day as a senior."

"Thanks."

"I won't keep you any longer; I need to get home and eat some breakfast anyway."

"Bye, Joel."

"Bye, La- Viola."

I'm glad he caught that himself because I felt worse and worse about denying a nick name he had grown up calling me. He still hadn't earned the right though, but with patience I was pretty confident that it wouldn't be too hard to forgive him completely. He just needed to prove himself more to me, and he was already well on his way with that.

It wasn't until I got to school that I realized that I had absolutely no one to hang out with this year. Addy had graduated last year and Ian was still in junior high; not that I would hang out with him anyway. I guess I was about to learn to make friends before going away to college.

"You're Viola right?" A girl asked as she walked up to me.

The first thing I noticed about her was that she was not completely Native American like the rest of us pretty much were. Her skin was a couple shades lighter and her hair was more of a dark brown than black, but it was her eyes that really gave it away. She had bright blue eyes; they were quite pretty actually, definitely different from the variations of brown and hazel that the rest of us had.

"Yeah, Viola Mire." I smiled kindly. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I know you."

She smiled, "You wouldn't; I'm sorry it's kinda creepy that I know you but my older brother is the new English teacher and I was going through his files last night and saw your picture. I'm Sophie Reid."

"Nice to meet you, Sophie. So what year are you?"

"I'm a senior too, and I wanted to tell you that I'll be in the private English class as well."

I chuckled, "That's a relief. I had already prepared myself for an awkward year of just me and a teacher."

Sophie smiled, "Well he is my brother, so it might be awkward for me. But I think you'll like him."

By the time our English class rolled around I knew a lot about her. I had learned that Sophia Ann Reid was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan and was part Potawatomi. **(A/N: I am from SW Michigan so I knew about the Potawatomi before Taylor Lautner got famous)**. As a small child she had moved to Pullman, Washington where her father taught Economics at Washington University. I also had learned that a year ago her parents had died in a car accident. After their deaths she moved in with her brother, Eric, in Seattle where he was doing his student teaching and that brought her here.

I had told her a lot about my life as well, but of course the biggest part of my life had to be kept a secret. I couldn't just blurt out that my family was made up of a bunch of retired wolves as well as some active ones. She'd think I was crazy.

"Hey Eric, this is Viola."

Mr. Reid has his back to us when we walked in so the first impression I had of him was that he was tall; about as tall as Joel was and judging from his broad shoulders I could tell that he was in shape. His hair was the same color as his sister's and was cut short.

"Sophie, at school I'm Mr. Reid." He stated in his deep voice as he turned around to face us.

Holy shit he was hot. I had been right about my prediction; he was in great shape.

"Sorry, I forgot." Sophie's voice snapped me out of my spell just as Mr. Reid's blue eyes connected with mine and he smiled. Thank God for my dark skin, otherwise he would be able to see my blush like a beacon in the night.

"Nice to meet you, Viola, I'm Mr. Reid." He continued to smile. "Are you by any chance named after the character Viola from Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'?"

"I could be." I shrugged. "As far as I know my parents just liked the name."

"Is there anything else you like to be called, Viola?"

Normally I would have answered yes, but the way my name rolled of his tongue was too nice to mess with. I wasn't about to tell him my nickname given to me as a baby.

"Nope, Viola is fine."

Sophie shot me a weird look, probably because earlier I had told her that I preferred to be called Lala or Vi and that most of the school knew to call me by either of those names. I shot her back a look of my own and she rolled her eyes with a smile. I could tell she knew I thought her brother was hot, but I was thankful that she wasn't about to make a big deal about it.

"Alright ladies let's get started."

Oh yes, let's.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to Nirvana**

**Thanks for all of the great reviews! I was originally planning on not updating until Friday, but I'm in a ridiculously good/hyper mood and decided to be nice since I had it ready.**

* * *

"_With the lights off it's less dangerous,_

_here we are now entertain us."_

**Smells Like Teen Spirit**

* * *

"Is it alright if I have a friend over to stay the night?" I asked Mom as soon as she walked in the door which wasn't too long after I had gotten home.

The first week of school had gone well and Sophie and I were already fast friends despite me thinking her brother was hot. She found it funny, but she swore that she would never tell a soul and I believed her.

"Tonight?"

"Yeah."

"Who is it?"

"Sophie, the girl I was telling you about."

"Yeah that's fine, but Joel's coming over to help you watch Livy tonight while we're at Ian's game."

"Fine."

That was a-okay with me. With Sophie there that meant that I didn't have to pay too much attention to Joel who'd have Livy to distract him anyway since she loved him so much.

"Alright, her brother is going to drop her off in a few minutes." I smiled.

Mom shot me a look, "That confident that I would say yes, huh?"

I just grinned and continued to wait on the couch for Sophie to get here. I didn't have to wait long. Just as Livy was running at me with her favorite game in hand a car pulled into the driveway and Sophie stepped out.

"I can't play right now, Livy. I have a friend staying." I told her gently.

"Fine, I'll have Joel play with me later." She said a bit angrily before she marched back up the stairs.

I knew she would be over it in a few hours so I opened the door and let Sophie inside. Unfortunately Mr. Reid had already pulled out of the driveway and I wasn't able to catch a glimpse of his face.

"Welcome to my home." I grinned. "I apologize for anything in advance."

She laughed, "I'm sure it's not that bad."

Mom walked into the room then and smiled at the two of us. "Your Dad made chocolate chip cookies last night so feel free to eat them all."

"Sophie, this is my Mom." I stated even though I was pretty sure she had already made the connection for herself.

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Mire."

Mom smiled, "I hope you're alright with helping Lala watch her little sister with another friend of hers."

"Oh yeah that's fine." Sophie assured her.

But as soon as Mom walked away Sophie turned to me with a quirked brow.

"Who's coming over?"

"Joel."

"Oh the complicated friendship, Joel."

"Yup."

"Gotcha. So basically, your parents love him and make you spend time with him?"

"You could say that."

Oh, if only she knew.

Once Mom, Dad and Ian left the two of us were left alone with Livy for a little while. Long enough for her to con us into making her favorite dinner; macaroni and cheese with hot dogs. It was also long enough for her to con Sophie into playing her Disney Princess game that I found myself becoming a part of too.

But just as we were half way through our game Joel showed up, and thankfully he was fully dressed. That would have been fun to explain to Sophie.

"Hey Joel!" Livy screeched. "Come play with us!"

Since his eyes had been glued to me since he walked through the door he hadn't noticed Sophie, but now he did. I watched as he glanced at her as her eyes raked over his entire body. I tensed, but relaxed when I saw her look away and send me a little smirk.

"Joel, this is my friend Sophie Reid. Sophie, this is Joel Uley."

"Let's finish playing now so Joel can play!" Livy interrupted.

Although it hadn't been my plan the three of us ended up playing games with Livy until Mom, Dad and Ian got home. Dad immediately scooped up my yawning little sister into his arms and called a greeting to Joel before he carried her up the stairs.

"Well, I guess I'll go now." Joel stated as he stood up from the living room floor.

I felt a little bad that our night together had been intruded upon by both my sister and my new friend, so I stood up and led him outside and to his truck.

"I shouldn't have made plans when today was our day." I sighed.

He smiled, "I still got to see you so I'm fine."

"No, I feel bad."

"Don't worry about it, you just owe me." He winked before he opened the door to his truck and hopped in.

Sophie was waiting for me when I walked back inside and by the look on her face I knew she was dying for a little girl talk. I had to fight the eye roll I could feel coming on and instead I led her upstairs to my room where we could talk in peace.

"He is hot!" She exclaimed as soon as the door was open. "And he is so totally in love with you!"

"I know." I sighed.

"Then why haven't you done anything about it?" She asked a bit dumbfounded.

"Like I've told you before, it's complicated. I haven't quite forgiven him for what he did to me a few years ago."

"Well you'd be stupid to let a guy like him go, just sayin'." Sophie grinned.

I chuckled and nodded my head in agreement. There was no way I could let him go if I wanted to.

***

I was staying over at the Reid's tonight and I had to admit that I was excited and very nervous at the same time. It was sort of like whenever I used to spend the night with Abby and Addy when I had a crush on their Dad. Of course it wasn't nearly as innocent since I was seventeen now instead of seven, and Mr. Reid was only twenty four and unmarried.

Thankfully no one knew about my little crush besides Sophie because I was definitely not about to tell Joel about it. He was already a little upset that he hadn't seen me as much since school had started a month ago. That was mostly due in part to my homework, my time with Sophie, and his job. So when I told him that our afternoon together had to be cut short so I could go to Sophie's he was a little angry, but he agreed to drop me off anyway.

"Have I even moved up your scale lately?" Joel asked suddenly as we drove towards the Reid's.

"I think you're a seven now." I replied.

"When did I earn that last point?"

"For being patient with me."

"I'm just glad you made another friend outside of the pack." Joel sighed. "I was afraid you'd go to college without any friend making skills."

"Hey! People like me." I protested.

"Yeah we do." He replied with a smile. "However, I want you to agree to something."

"Um…okay?"

"Will you come with me to Seattle next weekend?"

"What for?"

"It's a surprise."

"Okay."

"Great, we leave at six Saturday morning."

"Six!?"

He laughed a bit evilly, "You already agreed."

Dammit; the sneaky bastard.

We arrived at the Reid's a few minutes later and after I said goodbye to Joel I hopped out of the truck with my bag in hand and walked up to the door. I could feel Joel's eyes on my back as I waited for someone to answer it and hoped that it wasn't Mr. Reid that would answer. If so Joel would see him and I was pretty sure he would not like what he saw.

"Viola! Come on in!" Mr. Reid greeted with a smile before his gaze shot past my shoulder to Joel's truck. "Is that your boyfriend?"

Shit, I bet Joel could hear every word of this little conversation.

"No, he's a family friend."

Mr. Reid smiled like he didn't believe me, but stepped aside so I could enter the little one story house. Once the door was shut I heard Joel pull out of the driveway and drive on down the street.

"Was that Joel that dropped you off?" Sophie grinned as she skipped into the entryway from the living room.

"Yeah."

She just clucked her tongue at me before she grabbed my hand and led me down a hall to her room. Once we were inside she shut the door and pushed me down onto her purple comforter.

"So what were you doing with Joel?"

"He dropped me off."

"Obviously, Vi. I mean what were you doing with Joel before he dropped you off?"

"Oh, we were hanging out," I stated before I quickly finished with, "like my parents make me."

She shot me a look which stated she did not believe what had just come out of my mouth but thankfully dropped the subject and started to show me pictures of her parents. I felt bad for both her and her brother because I knew that I would be completely devastated if I lost my parents. Thankfully they had each other and seemed to lead a decent life together.

"Eric wants us to watch a movie tonight."

"Is it for class?" I groaned, hoping that he wouldn't make us take notes on it or something.

"No, he said it's just for fun."

"Alright then, let's go watch it."

As soon as we opened the door to her room my nose was filled with the delicious aroma of buttery popcorn. Sophie and I exchanged glances before we dashed into the living room where a huge bowl of popcorn was waiting for us. We completely ignored Eric who was putting a DVD in and started to dig into the popcorn.

"Jeez, save some for me." He sighed.

"Not until you tell us what we're watching." Sophie said.

"Well, it's a movie that came out before you guys were born and is based on Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night."

"So it's modernized?"

"Yeah, there's no fluffy dresses or huge collars if that's what you mean." He laughed. "It's called 'She's the Man' and the lead characters name is Viola." He said and winked at me.

I practically melted right there but luckily controlled myself and shoved a handful of popcorn in my mouth instead.

The movie was pretty good; complete with comedy, a little bit of drama, and romance of course. Sophie was asleep by the time it was over, her head resting on her brother's shoulder from where she sat in between the two of us on the couch.

"So, what did you think?" He whispered.

"I liked it, but I don't think I am like that Viola."

"Why not?"

"Well, I don't have a twin and I can't play soccer to save my life." I chuckled.

"Very true." He laughed a nice deep husky laugh that made my stomach flutter. "We better get this one to bed; otherwise she'll be a beast in the morning."

I laughed and then watched as he easily swung Sophie up into his arms bridal style. Yeah, I was used to seeing that on a regular basis but those men were wolves and had a genetic advantage over mere mortals like Eric. So seeing him lift her easily like that definitely had my legs turning to jell-o and me wishing I was the one that fell asleep.

Of course I was sure Sophie would have just shaken me awake instead of letting her hunk of a brother carry me into her room.

I followed him down the hall and into her lavender room and watched as he laid her down on the bed. Once he had her under the covers he turned to me and smiled before he walked out of the room.

How the hell was I supposed to sleep after that?


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to Simple Plan**

**I hope you guys like this chapter as much as I do. Thanks again for all of the great reviews!**

* * *

"_Since the day I met you_

_and after all we've been through_

_Still a dick, I'm addicted to you!"_

**Addicted**

* * *

"Joel is here." Dad said as he shook me awake.

It was six already? Luckily I had gotten up at five and had showered, dressed, and then laid down on the couch for some extra shut eye.

"Mmm, tell him to go away." I groaned.

"You agreed." I heard Joel say from behind my Dad.

"Fine, but you better buy me some breakfast."

Both he and my Dad started to laugh as I sat up and slipped my shoes on. I had no idea what we were doing today so I dressed comfortably; a pair of jeans, t-shirt, zip up hoodie, and comfy shoes. As for my hair; I threw it up in a pony tail and called it good.

"Don't worry, I'm hungry too." Joel assured me as we walked outside and to his truck.

"Are you going to tell me what we're doing yet?" I asked.

"Nope."

"You suck."

"Hey, I'd watch it if I were you. This is the guy that's going to be feeding you all day."

That shut me up; I was one of those girls that actually enjoyed food. Diets? Excuse me while I laugh. I wasn't fat though; I ate whatever the heck I wanted but had learned at an early age how to control my portions.

After we stopped at a nice little diner on the highway and filled up on waffles and bacon we continued our drive towards Seattle. We chatted about my Uncle's upcoming wedding before I finally raided his CD collection in the glove box. Finally I found one I wanted and stuck it in the player.

"What did you put in there?"

"'The Imprinting Mix'." I laughed. "Who gave you that one?"

"Your Uncle." He shrugged as the first song came on.

I knew that I probably wouldn't recognize any of these songs since my Uncle had probably made this CD before I was even born, but I kept it in anyway. The rest of the drive was spent listening to music and singing to songs we actually did know and once we hit the limits of Seattle Joel still refused to tell me what we were doing.

"Remind me to do this to you one of these days." I pouted as he navigated the city traffic in his truck.

That was when I learned that I did not handle city driving well. Growing up where I had had kept me sheltered from big city driving and all the stopping and going was starting to make me feel pretty sick. Suddenly those waffles weren't feeling too great in my belly.

"I'm gonna be sick." I groaned.

"Just close your eyes and relax, we're almost there." Joel said gently as he yet again hit the brakes, only this time he was a lot gentler with the braking process.

I closed my eyes after that and after about what I guessed was a half hour or so I felt the truck come to a stop and listened as Joel turned it off.

"We're here."

I snapped my eyes open and looked out the windows and all I could see were cars in a parking lot. But then I looked a bit closer I noticed the sign.

"You brought me to the University of Washington?" I asked in amazement.

He smiled, "Yeah, I wanted to show you that it wasn't too far away and I thought you should see the place you might be for the next four years."

I didn't hesitate or over think my next move. Instead I unbuckled my seatbelt and launched myself at Joel. He laughed and wrapped his arms around my back as I clung to his neck the best I could given that we were in his truck.

"Thank you!"

"You ready to explore?"

"Yeah!"

At five we decided we better start heading home. We grabbed a quick dinner and then walked back to the truck loaded with UofW t-shirts, sweat shirts, and hats. All of which had been purchased by Joel despite my protests.

"So Joel?"

"Yeah."

"I just wanted to let you know that I've completely forgiven you. I've gotten to the point where I don't even think about what happened anymore. I'm ready to have a real friendship with you again."

We weren't quite back to the truck yet, but Joel stopped dead in his tracks, set our bags down and swept me up into his arms. After he swung me around a few times he put me back on my feet and picked the bags back up with a huge smile on his face.

"But we're not about to just jump into a romantic relationship." I clarified.

"I know that, Lala." He grinned. "I can call you that right?"

"Of course you can."

***

"Is it true?!" Dad shouted as he walked into the house, fresh from work; which meant that he stunk and was covered in a layer of dirt.

"Is what true?" I asked nonchalantly.

After our day in Seattle I had only told my parents and everyone else that he had taken me to see the campus. What I didn't tell them was that Joel and I had completely made amends…or well I had forgiven him finally. So, now it was Monday and I assumed Dad probably found out at work where all the former wolves gossiped like teenage girls.

"Sam says that Joel told him that you said you had completely forgiven him."

I had to hold back my laughter because he had just proved my point about the whole gossiping girls.

"Why are you so excited about that? You do realize that the next step in the imprinting books is a romance."

"Oh hell no, he doesn't. Joel and I have already laid out ground work on that front." Dad stated confidently to which I only quirked a brow at him.

"Nice to know you're controlling my life." I muttered.

He ignored me, "I'm only happy because you and Joel were such good friends and I was always sorry to see that friendship go to waste like it did. You two used to be inseparable; I guess I better get used to that again."

Was he getting all emotional on me? I looked a little closer at him and sure enough his eyes were glistening a bit. I knew better than to call him out on that though; Livy did it enough for all of us. Paul Mire may have been the former badass of his pack, but he was such a softie when it came to his wife and kids.

"Come here." He ordered gently.

"Why?"

"Just come here."

I stood up and edged toward him. He wasn't going to try to touch me when he was all dirty like that was he? Oh yes he was, but when I realized that it was too late; he had already grabbed me and hauled me into his big arms.

"I can't believe my baby is seventeen." He muttered.

"Dad gross! You stink!" I shouted, effectively ruining the Kodak moment.

"That's what showers are for, Lala." He smirked as he pulled back and placed a kiss on my forehead before he released me.

"Where's my kiss?" Livy pouted as she walked into the room with a cookie in hand.

"I'll trade you one kiss for that cookie." Dad grinned.

Livy just shook her head, took a bite of her cookie, and walked away.

***

I wanted to personally thank the school board for hiring Eric Reid. Not only was he great eye candy, but he sure as hell knew what he was talking about. He managed to get me excited about writing papers when before I had usually groaned and resigned myself to my fate. He also picked books that he knew both Sophie and I would enjoy. In a few words: he was a hot intelligent English teacher.

I'm sure Sophie was sick of me practically eye raping her brother day after day, but she managed to pay me back by doing the same to Joel whenever she saw him. But for some reason I wasn't okay with that as she was with me. Whenever I watched her eyes rake over Joel's body I stiffened and clenched my fists, but I wasn't about to tell anyone that.

"Alright, I think you girls will like this paper topic. Instead of analyzing a play, book, or short story, I'm just going to give you guys a topic and let you run with it." Mr. Reid smiled as he handed us each a paper with the assignment on it. "I want you to write about the most influential person in your life, but here's the catch: they cannot be related to you."

Well that certainly limited things where I was concerned.

"This is going to be a relatively short assignment as it is due next week and after that we're going to start writing our own short stories."

"Only a week?" Sophie cried.

"It only has to be four pages double spaced." He pointed out. "You two can do it, and in the mean time let's work on reading 'Purple Hibiscus'."

Who was the most influential person in my life? Normally I would have answered that one of my parents was, but since they were out of the question I had to think a little harder. Although I was close to Abby and Addy, they really didn't influence my life that much and that went for pretty much everyone else in my life except Joel.

The more I thought about it the more I realized that he really did influence my life the most. Not just now, but before any of the imprinting stuff had happened. He had completely altered the events of my life by breaking off our friendship seven years ago, and he had done it again when he imprinted on me. And not only did he do that, but he would also continue to influence the rest of my life. That would be hard to convey in this paper without spilling the beans on imprinting, but I would have to make it work.

Of course that was easier said than done as I continued to stare at my computer screen. My word document was still blank besides my name and date and according to the clock I had already been sitting here for fifteen minutes.

Brownie decided to make an appearance then, as he crashed into the room and immediately dove for my socks. I didn't know what it was, but he loved nothing more than to ruin my socks with his teeth. Before he could do damage to this pair I picked him up and set him in my lap.

"Not these socks, mister." I told him playfully as I scratched his velvety ears.

That's when an idea struck me.

I balanced Brownie in my lap and quickly started to hit keys on the keyboard.

'_The most influential person in my life is more than just that. What kind of affectionate word is 'influential' to give to someone who obviously means a lot to me? That's why I'm going to just dive in and not give him any title besides his name. That amazing person in my life, Joel, bought me a puppy for my seventeenth birthday and with that puppy also started to buy my trust back. _

_Our story has a past, present and future, kind of like 'A Christmas Carol'. And just like we see in the story, my story has to begin with the past, which was sometimes pretty ugly.'_

I spent the rest of the afternoon writing the whole entire paper; that definitely was a record for me. But I had been hit with a major dose of inspiration and I needed to get it all out. Of course I would go back and edit things, but for now I was pretty happy with what I had written. Brownie must have too, because he was fast asleep in my lap and every now and then he would twitch as if he was running after a squirrel in his puppy dreams.

"What are you doing in here?" Ian asked from the doorway. "Dinner is ready."

"Oh sorry, I was writing a paper." I replied as I saved my paper.

Ian invited himself into my room and grabbed Brownie out of my lap just as I was about to pick him up myself.

"Yes Ian, you may come in and handle my puppy."

"He likes me." Ian shrugged as Brownie woke up and looked up at him sleepily.

"Put him on my bed and let's go eat."

He did as I asked while I watched and together we left my room and headed down the stairs for the dining room. Mom, Dad and Livy were already seated and waiting for us anxiously; if Dad's sneaky fingers in the bread basket were any indication.

"Paul, hands off the food." Mom said as Ian and I sat down.

"Well let's get this prayer said and eat; I'm starving!"

One thing that never changed about retired wolves was their appetite, of course that meant that they actually had to work out unless they wanted a big belly. Dad had a little one, but for most part looked pretty good for being over forty; so did Mom.

"So I had a funny thought today in class after I threw up in the bathroom." Mom stated casually once the prayer had been said and we had passed around the food. "What if I'm pregnant?"

Four eyes snapped up to meet my Mom's twinkling dark brown eyes. Pregnant? What the hell? She was already forty one and that meant that I would be almost eighteen years older than any new baby.

"Natalie…"

"But I'm not; apparently the doughnuts in the teacher's longue had gone bad and I didn't notice." Mom laughed.

"That was not funny." Ian stated.

"I got all of you." She grinned and took a bite of mashed potatoes. "Don't worry; I'm not about to raise another kid. I'd be sixty by the time I finally got rid of it."

"Thank God; I love you Nat, but I doubt I'll be able to keep up with a teenager when I'm nearing sixty." Dad chuckled through a mouthful of chicken.

"Besides we'll have a cousin soon." Livy added happily.

"Yeah, a baby we can enjoy and send home at the end of the day." I grinned.

"Got that right." Ian agreed.

"I can't wait until you guys have children…well I can wait, but you know what I mean." Mom stated. "I don't want to be a Grandma for a few years, Viola."

"Whoa! I don't think you have to worry about that!"

Ian chuckled darkly, "We all know how imprinting works, Lala."


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to AFI**

**Sorry I didn't update sooner, I went through a period of not wanting to write and then I was gone the whole day Sunday, and yesterday I was studying for math. Thanks for all of the reviews and just to let you know... the lyrics below might not be right but I just wanted the title anyway.**

* * *

"_Flavor rain, lose your name_

_and watch all your dreams fall through._

_Here's my lullaby,_

_hush now don't you cry."_

**The Interview**

* * *

"Viola, I'd like to talk to you after class…privately."

Whoa. Holy shit. Oh my gosh! Mr. Reid wanted to talk to me alone after class, which meant that he was holding me after school! If I was one of those squealing girls, that would be exactly what I was doing now. This crush thing was really starting to get out of hand. Not only was he my English teacher, he was the older brother of my friend, and a good deal older than me.

"Isn't Joel supposed to pick you up today?" Sophie asked quietly once her brother had gone back to his papers at his desk.

Shit, she was right. My car was having brake issues and Jake hadn't had the time to fix them yet for me. So in the meantime Joel was my ride, which he enjoyed immensely. I was alright with it too; with life buzzing on around us it was hard to find a designated afternoon to hang out like my Dad wanted.

"Well, he'll have to wait for a few extra minutes." I shrugged.

He wouldn't mind if a teacher held me back a few extra minutes…of course I wasn't about to tell him it was Mr. Reid. He hadn't actually ever said anything on the subject but he always got this certain look on his face when I started discussing English class.

When the bell finally rang, Sophie gathered her things and went to hang in the library like she usually did after school waiting for her brother to finish up.

"Alright Viola, I wanted to talk to you about your paper."

We had just turned in the paper about the influence in our life a couple days ago and he already wanted to talk to me about it? I'd failed it; that had to be it.

"How bad was it?" I cringed.

He laughed, "What are you talking about? It was the best paper I've read in a long time."

Relief flooded my body, and I felt a brilliant smile take hold of my lips.

"You have a way with words, Viola, and you better not let them go to waste. All I have to say to you about it is that you shared feelings in there that I'm not sure you have even realized yourself." He grinned. "But you will soon."

With those words he sent me on my way with my paper in hand. I stared down at the one hundred percent written across the top, and besides a few comma changes it was pretty much left unmarked. Maybe this was my sign that this was what I needed to do, and I wasn't about to ignore it; especially with our short stories due next month.

I was still beaming when I hopped into Joel's truck. I turned my smile upon him only to see a scowl in return, but I didn't care at the moment.

"I got a hundred on my paper!" I yelled excitedly.

His scowl vanished like I had hoped it would.

"Great job, Lala! So why did you have to stay after with him then?"

"He wanted to tell me that it was the best he had read in a while." I replied. "Wait, how did you know it was him that I had to stay after for?"

He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "I can smell him on you."

I chuckled a little at that. "What does he smell like?"

"Too much Axe body spray. It kind of reminds me of that stage Embry went through when Addy was sixteen."

We both shuddered at the memory. Embry had made a complete ass of himself by trying to impress a cold Addy with what he thought were irresistible scents. She was not impressed and the rest of us had to suffer while he figured that out.

"You just have a sensitive nose, he smells nice."

"Nice?" He quirked a brow.

"You smell nice too." I quickly added.

"What do I smell like?" He asked curiously as he pulled out onto the road.

"Cedar and cinnamon, but that might just be because I like those smells so much." I replied and then realized what I had just said, so I decided to cover myself, "What do I smell like?"

He didn't hesitate, "Cherry blossoms."

"That would be because of my lotion." I chuckled.

"I like it."

Insert awkwardness. I'm sure he didn't feel awkward, but I did…at least just a little. And it was only because our new friendship was still in the early stages. Friendship was definitely different between us now that puberty had run its course. It was so easy when I didn't constantly think of what he looked like shirtless, and I'm sure it was easier for him when my boobs (as small as they were) weren't there to distract him; if his wandering eyes every once in a while were any indication.

"Thanks for picking me up, Joel." I smiled as he pulled into my driveway.

He had patrol soon so he couldn't stay and eat some of the ginger snaps Dad had made last night, but that was his loss and my gain.

"No problem, Lala."

What had Mr. Reid meant about feelings I hadn't even realized myself yet?

***

After the positive feedback on my paper I decided it was time to put my skills to the test and start working on my application essays for the University of Washington. My day with Joel there had pretty much made up my mind on where I wanted to go, and now the next step was to actually gain admittance there.

Mom and Dad were happy and wished me luck as I locked myself up in my room and started to type up an essay about why I wanted to attend college and what I hoped to do with my life. A few weeks ago I would have been totally unprepared for that question, but I was prepared now.

For good measure I filled out an application for Washington State just in case and crossed my fingers as I sent them out into the world via the world wide web.

Before I knew it, it was already November seventh and the day of my Uncle Matt's wedding to his four month pregnant fiancé, Abby. I was pretty excited about it, mostly because of the new dress Mom and I had picked out for the wedding. There was also a part of me that knew that there would probably be some sort of drama going down at the wedding and when there was I would be right there watching from the sidelines. Unless it involved me of course.

"How do I look?" Livy asked as she struck a pose in front of the community center where the ceremony and reception were taking place.

Livy had also gotten a new dress for the occasion; a cute purple dress that flared out at the bottom and had bow in the back. And right now that bow needed to be tied again.

"Marvelous, but I need to fix your bow." I replied with a smile.

She immediately spun around and allowed me to tie her bow before she ran off to ask some more people how she looked. None of us had been allowed to go inside yet, because the ushers were running behind. In other words Joel and Ian were probably messing around with their neck ties.

"You look beautiful, Lala." Dad grinned as he walked up to me and put an arm around my waist. He looked pretty good himself; dressed in a nice blue shirt with Mom's favorite patterned tie on. I, myself, had on a black and white floral dress complete with a little black sweater for the La Push weather.

"Thanks Dad, you look pretty good yourself."

"You get it from me." He grinned.

"Oh shut up." Mom laughed. "Everyone knows that Lala looks like me."

They then started to have one of their playful arguments that used to embarrass the hell out of me, but for some reason I found cute now. The fact of the matter was that I looked like a mix of both of my parents while my siblings looked like one or the other. Livy looked like Mom, and Ian definitely looked like Dad.

"About time those boys get to business." I heard Emily say loudly as Joel and Ian started to escort people to their seats.

We didn't have to wait long for Joel to walk up to us and hold his arm out. I waited for my Mom to link her arm through his like what was customary, but instead they all turned and looked at me expectantly. Um…okay, I guess I could link my arm with his.

Joel smiled as I slipped my arm through his and led us into the community center. I couldn't help but notice how he was dressed and how well it suited him. He wasn't wearing a suit, no one was really, but his dark maroon dress shirt and black tie looked great on him. More than great…but I wasn't going to get into that.

"You look beautiful." He whispered with a smile.

I peered up at him with a grateful smile, "Thank you, you look pretty nice too."

He laughed, which of course caught everyone's attention. "Just pretty nice?"

"Fine, handsome then."

"Okay, I can take that."

We reached our row then and I walked down the row of the chairs to the end so the rest of my family could fit in. As Joel walked away I heard my Grandma Hanner say from the row in front of us:

"Before we know it, it'll be their turn!"

Thank you, Grandma for publicly embarrassing me for the second time in a matter of months. I sunk a little lower in my seat which only caused Dad to laugh and sling his arm across the back of my chair. I don't know why he was so okay with this topic; fathers weren't supposed to want their daughters to get married or even have boyfriends.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." He muttered finally.

Well, there…at least he was finally being normal about it.

The wedding was an emotional one to say the least. I was crying as soon as I saw Jared's face which was wet with tears. Damn these emotional wolf men! My makeup was probably all ruined now. If that wasn't enough Abby started bawling during her vows and Uncle Matt almost lost it when he recited his own. Instead of drama I had been handed a serious dose of emotional tears.

Once it was over everyone clapped and followed the newlywed couple back to where the reception was being held. Everyone had pitched in and made a dish so there was plenty of food to go around and there was music playing in the background to set the mood.

Everyone immediately dug into the food as was usual at pack gatherings. And once all the food was gone besides the cakes, that's when the actual partying started. One minute there was slow music playing in the background and everyone was sitting down, but the next thing I knew there was a heavy beat going and people were on the dance floor.

I watched from the comfort of my seat as Jacob, Matt, and Embry started to dance in a group with each other. It was hilarious to say the least, and was only broken up when each of their respective imprints walked out on the dance floor to join them.

"Come dance with me, Lala!" Livy giggled.

Normally I would have declined because my dancing skills were nonexistent, but it was okay to look like an idiot if you were with a little kid; that had been a lesson I had learned when I was a little kid and my Dad used me as a cover for various reasons.

So I grabbed my little sister's hand and together we headed to the dance floor where most of the 'young people' were dancing. Of course some of the 'young people' really weren't all that young; like Matt, Jacob, and Embry. In reality, they were all in their thirties but appeared to be twenty five; the same appearance they had when they first phased. It hardly seemed fair that the men gained the ability of eternal youth. Wasn't that a woman's desire?

"Don't be shy! Shake your butt!" Livy ordered.

A mini Dad in the works right here. Regardless, I followed her order and started to 'shake my butt' with her. By the time the song was over we were both laughing. Of course at that time a slow song came on and Livy darted off the dance floor leaving me there looking like an idiot amongst a handful of couples.

I was about to make my own exit from the dance floor, when a warm hand grabbed my hand and turned me around.

"Care to dance?" Joel asked with a smile.

My eyes connected with his and shivers raced through my body. There was no way I could say no after that, even though I was pretty sure I would probably step on his feet…not that he would feel it anyway.

"Sure, but I'm not that good."

He chuckled, "Yeah, I know, but I'll dance with you anyway."

I shot him a sarcastic smile as he brought my hands to his shoulders and then settled his hands on my waist. We then started swaying instead of really dancing, but that seemed to be what everyone else was doing. Except my parents who were gliding across the dance floor fluidly gazing at each other with such love in their eyes that made me proud to be their daughter.

"Your parents are good dancers." Joel whispered.

I tore my eyes away from my parents and looked into his dark brown eyes; dark brown eyes that were suddenly starting to look more like my favorite homemade chocolate candies instead of just plain old brown.

"I think my Grandma Mire made my Dad take dance lessons when he was a teenager and he taught Mom." I giggled as the image of my teenage father dancing swam before my eyes.

"Did the guys in the pack ever know that?" Joel asked with a grin.

"Well they're gonna know now."

We swayed for another minute in silence, just watching each other, when the music stopped. We stopped swaying but neither of us made a move to move away from each other. It wasn't until my Dad walked up that he finally removed his hands from my waist and took a step back, causing my hands to fall from his shoulders.

"Mind if I cut in, Joel?" Dad asked with a knowing smile.

"Go right ahead sir."

Dad smiled before he grabbed my hands and started to sweep me across the dance floor as another slow song played in the background. I didn't have to do much work as Dad led me around the dance floor, but when I stumbled he quickly caught me and started to move at a slower and less complicated pace.

"Hope you don't mind that I told Joel about your lessons." I grinned.

"That's alright and you know why?" He smirked. "Because all of their women have been watching me and are going to want them to dance like that with them. Next thing you know they'll want dance lessons."

"I love you, Dad." I chuckled.

"Love ya too, Lala."


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to All Time Low**

**Sorry I haven't updated as regularly as I have been, but it's getting to that point here at college where everything is coming around at the same time and when I do have free time I just want to sleep, eat, or read. This will be the only update of the weekend since I am leaving for Detroit at three this afternoon. So thanks again to all of my reviewers, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"_I'm gonna break down these walls_

_I've built around myself._

_I wanna fall so in love _

_With you and no one else;_

_could ever mean half as much to me as you do now._

**Walls**

* * *

The holiday season was upon us, but instead of being exciting for Christmas presents, I was anxiously awaiting the replies from the two colleges I had applied to. Was it normal that they were taking this long? My Mom assured me that she didn't find out until December which made me feel a little better, but Christmas was in two days!

"Lala! The mail is here!" Mom yelled from downstairs where she and Livy were making cookies.

It was weird that Mom was making cookies instead of Dad, but she was off for Christmas break like us kids were, while Dad was still out on the construction site with the rest of the guys. It didn't really matter to me though, cookies tasted delicious no matter which parent made them.

I ran down the stairs, slipped on my boots, and ran outside to the mail box in only a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt. It was a bit cold, but I was on a mission and didn't care. Sure enough when I opened the mail box there were a few envelopes nestled inside. I grabbed all of them and quickly darted back inside the house.

I sorted through them quickly, throwing the bills on the coffee table for Mom and Dad. And there at the bottom of the pile were my two letters…well they were more like packets really. That meant I was accepted didn't it? My heart was racing as I opened the State one first and saw that I had been accepted. That was dandy and all, but I was more worried about the other one.

I threw the opened one aside and ripped open the other.

"Yes!" I screeched.

Mom and Livy ran in, their hands covered in flour, and looked at me expectantly.

"I got in!" I yelled.

"Yay!" Livy cheered, even though I was pretty sure she didn't really know what I meant.

Mom on the other hand pulled me into a hug, most likely leaving flour handprints on the back of my shirt. Oh well, I didn't really care at the moment.

"I'm so proud of you!" She smiled when we separated. "I knew you would get in."

"What's going on here?" Dad demanded as he shut the front door.

"Lala got in!" Mom explained.

The next thing I knew I was clasped against my father as he hugged the living daylights out of me. He held me for a minute before he pulled away, placed a kiss on my forehead and told me how proud of me he was, just like Mom had. Then he looked down at Livy and said very seriously:

"You are not to grow up; you are to stay the size you are now."

She giggled before she slapped his thigh and ran back into the kitchen, leaving a white handprint on his jeans.

Once my parents were done hugging me and stuff I ran up to my room with the phone in hand and called up Sophie. The only reason I called her first instead of Joel was because I knew she had been waiting for her letters from U of W and State as well.

"Hey Vi." She greeted.

"I got in!" I screeched.

"Me too!" She yelled back. "Where?"

"Both of them."

"Me too!"

"Where are you gonna go?"

She sighed, "Well, I think it'll be too painful to go to State and see reminders of my Dad all the time. Plus I want to be closer to my brother. So I've decided to go to U of W."

"Me too."

"Should we room together?" She asked.

"We can think about it." I replied a bit nervously. I had just gotten in; I didn't want to be thinking about everything that came with that all at once. "I gotta go, Merry Christmas, Sophie."

"Merry Christmas, Vi."

After I hung up the phone I was about to dial Joel's number when there was a knock on my door.

"Come in."

In walked Joel with Brownie in his arms. He smiled when he saw me and I couldn't help but smile back as he walked into my room and sat on my desk chair across from me, with Brownie still nestled in his arms.

"I was just about to call you." I smiled.

"About?"

"I got in!"

With that said he set Brownie aside and swallowed me up in a giant bear hug that lifted me off the bed. He swung me around a few times and finally set me down with a brilliant smile on his face.

"I knew you would." He grinned.

* * *

I woke up to a loud and happy screech. Livy was up. Ever since she had learned to get down the stairs on her own, she had always been up before the rest of us on Christmas morning, and every Christmas morning she usually screeched, effectively waking up the rest of us.

By the time I got downstairs and into the living room where the tree was set up, everyone else was already there and waiting for me; their morning hair and yawns in place. A quick glance at the presents told me why she had screeched; in the corner was a pink and purple bike with a basket on the front.

"Santa knew Daddy was going to teach me to ride a bike, Lala!" She said happily as she ran a hand lovingly across the seat of the bike. I smiled back, knowing that if Ian or I said anything about Mom and Dad being Santa all of our presents would be returned for ruining Livy's Christmas.

"That's great, Livy." I nodded.

"Alright Ian, Livy chose the bike as her first present so it's your turn." Mom stated from her position on Dad's lap.

While he opened a box that contained some new clothes I rooted around the tree for a gift addressed to me. Normally I would have chosen the smallest gift, but this time I decided to start with the big box.

"Alright, Lala's turn." Dad smiled as he swung the video camera to me.

"Dad! Get that camera out of my face!" I whined as I began to rip the elf paper away.

"Not on your life, kid." He chuckled darkly and I heard the sound of the camera zoom in on my face. Great, now that Mt. Vesuvius on my chin would forever live on in the Christmas video. Once the paper was gone I looked at the box curiously; on the side was a computer brand. Could it be…?

"Open it." Mom urged with a smile.

With the help of Dad's pocket knife I got through the stupid cardboard and once I had thrown the shaped foam away I found a red laptop computer.

"Oh my gosh!"

"It's for school." Mom smiled as my siblings peered closer at my gift.

"Thank you!" I screeched, aware that I sounded like Livy at the moment but not really caring since I had just received one of the best presents of my life…besides my car and Brownie of course.

"You're welcome, Lala. But you better take good care of it." Dad stated.

"Does this mean I get her desk top?" Ian asked.

"Take it." I answered easily. "Once I delete stuff of course."

"What about the printer?"

"I need that, doofo."

When it was my turn again I discovered that I did not need my old printer since my parents had gotten me a new one. Hmm, well Ian could have that too then; it printed stupidly sometimes anyway. As the morning continued on I didn't get much else; some random cloth articles and candy, but I understood that my present had to cost a big chunk of Mom and Dad's Christmas spending.

Once we were all done, I helped Mom clean up while Dad made our Christmas brunch. During our cleaning I was politely informed that Joel would arrive in a half hour to join us for our brunch. With that said I darted out of the living room and up the stairs to the shower to clean myself up and do something about the giant zit on my chin.

It wasn't until I was battling with my cover up that I wondered why it mattered. Why was I standing here in front of my mirror having a battle with a blemish? It was just Joel, the guy who had known me since I was a baby, the guy I had played hide and go seek with. Even though I told myself these things I still kept covering the zit up and didn't leave my room until I was completely satisfied the way I looked.

Mom sent me a knowing look as I passed through the kitchen to the dining room where everyone was waiting for me and the actual food itself. Mom followed in behind me with the food and placed it in the center of the table while I took the only other seat left, across from Joel.

"Merry Christmas, Lala." He smiled.

"Merry Christmas."

"What did you get for Christmas, Joel? I got a bike!" Livy beamed.

"I got some clothes." He replied. "Most of mine have been ruined lately."

Dad chuckled, "I remember those days."

"That's all you got?" Livy asked surprised.

"No, I got some books too."

"You didn't get anything good!" She declared. "Ian got the game he's wanted for a while and Lala got a computer! And you just got books and clothes?"

"Olivia." Mom warned.

"Livy, he's a lot older than Ian is." I pointed out. "He doesn't need games or bikes or even computers."

Joel sent me a warm smile, which for some reason actually made my stomach erupt in butterflies and made my face grow hot. What the hell was with that?!

"When you're done eating, I have a gift for you." Joel said quietly as the rest of my family started laughing over some joke Ian had made.

I nodded in reply and finished my pancakes in silence. It didn't take long for both of us to finish eating and when we did we quietly slipped away to my room where Brownie was waiting on the bed.

"Keep that door open!" Dad yelled up the stairs.

Cue blushing as well as a nervous laugh as I opened the door a little wider. Joel had already made himself comfortable on my bed, rubbing Brownie's tummy.

"I have a gift for you too." I stated before I headed over to my closet to retrieve it.

When I reemerged he held out his gift to me and took his own from my hands. I thought he was going to open his, but instead he looked up at me expectantly.

"Open it."

With that said I ripped the paper open and stared down at the box surprised.

"A camera?"

"So you can take a whole bunch of pictures of home to have with you at school." He smiled.

"Joel, this is too much-"

"Shh, I wanted to buy it for you." He interrupted me. "You can put all the pictures you take on your new laptop and then you can look at them at any time."

"That's really sweet of you." I smiled. "My gift sucks compared to yours."

"I would like anything you gave me."

"So if I gave you a bag full of Brownie's poop you would like it?"

He laughed, "Okay, almost anything you gave me I would like."

"That sounds more realistic." I smiled and watched as he started to carefully tear the wrapping paper away.

"Alright, I don't know how you pansy Uley's do it, but us Mires rip paper, Joel!" I laughed.

"We are not pansies!" Joel laughed and finally tore the paper away to reveal the sterling silver folding frame that contained two pictures of us. On one side there was a picture of us together at the ages of six and eight, hugging Steve. And on the other side was a picture of the two of us on the dance floor at Uncle Matt's wedding. Mom had snapped the picture of the two of us as we danced together, our eyes glued to the others.

"This is the best present I've gotten all day, Viola."

For the first time I actually shivered when he said my name.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to AFI (I thought the song fitting because of the title :D) Anywhoo, thanks for all of the great reviews. I got back to school checked my mail and was happily surprised with all of the reviews that were there.**

* * *

"_It's in the blood, it's in the blood_

_I met my love before I was born_

_He wanted love, I taste of blood_

_He bit my lip and drank my war from years before."_

**Love Like Winter**

* * *

Joel was nowhere to be found. That was not like him; he was usually either right on time or a little bit early. Today was New Year's Eve Day and Joel and I were supposed to spend the day together before we went to the New Year's party at Kim and Jared's house.

So after I waited an hour for him, I finally decided to seek him out instead. I called a goodbye to my family and ventured out into the winter air to my little red car. After I scraped the ice off the windshield I slipped inside and headed down the road to the Uley's house. I wasn't sure if I would even find him there, but I needed to find him because something did not feel right about his absence.

"Viola? Aren't you supposed to be with Joel?" Emily asked after she opened the door.

Behind her I could see Bee and Jake carrying boxes down from her room. The two of them had married a few weeks ago in a small service that wasn't too memorable besides Sam's tears as he gave his only daughter away. I barely even stayed for the reception because of my annoying cough and had gone home early to rest on the couch with a cup of hot tea.

"He never showed up." I answered simply.

"Really? Well come on in."

Once I was inside I kicked off my wet boots and stood awkwardly in the hallway. I hadn't been in the Uley house for a long time, but it hadn't changed too much. The only difference I noticed was the number of pictures that lined the walls as well as the new paint color in the living room.

"That's not like Joel to be late." Emily mused.

"He mentioned going to get something if that helps." Jake spoke up as he slipped his shoes on.

"Well, you're welcome to wait for him here, Viola." Emily smiled kindly before Bee demanded her attention with her moving out process.

While they did that I slipped upstairs and down the hall to the room I knew was Joel's. As soon as the door swung open my nose was assaulted with his smell. I breathed in deeply with a smile on my face and gazed around his room that had changed dramatically since we were young. There were no longer any action figures gracing his shelves and in their place were pictures and trophies from varsity baseball. And there next to his telescope was a guitar; something that had not been there the last time I was in here.

So Joel played guitar now and he hadn't played for me yet? Maybe he sucked and I didn't want him to play to me? But somehow I doubted that. Joel was one of those people that excelled at anything they did. I didn't have to be his best friend during high school to figure that one out. While we had been estranged he had become the star pitcher for the baseball team all the while earning straight A's. It was too bad that he wasn't going to college; it was such a waste.

"What are you doing here?" I heard from behind me.

I jumped, spun around and saw Joel standing in the doorway to his room looking at me curiously. He looked like he was fresh off patrol, if the leaves in his hair and streak of mud on his face were any indication.

"I ran into a vampire trail on my way back from Seattle." He explained. "And once I didn't find you at your house, I followed your scent here."

"What were you doing in Seattle?" I asked curiously, not paying any attention to the mention of a Vampire; it was probably nothing anyway.

He smirked, "That, I cannot tell you."

"Jerk." I mumbled.

The two of us were silent as he walked into his room and stripped his dirty shirt off. Of course it was right at that moment that I turned to look at him and saw him in his eight pack glory. I cleared my throat and tried to shake off the feeling in the pit of my stomach, but it wasn't really working.

"So…you play the guitar now?" I asked, trying to distract myself from the sight of his tanned and very toned chest.

"Yeah." Joel grinned as he grabbed a clean shirt from his dresser and pulled it over his head; I was disappointed and relived at the same time.

"Are you any good?"

"I'd like to think so."

"Play for me."

I didn't have to tell him twice. I stood there while he walked over and grabbed his acoustic guitar and went to sit on the bed. He patted the spot next to him and I cautiously sat down, aware of how close we were at the moment.

"Any requests?"

"I don't know what you can play."

"Be prepared to be amazed." Joel grinned before he began to play a soft lullaby that I was afraid was about to put me to sleep. But not in the bad sense of falling asleep; this lullaby was soothing and relaxing and in my writer's mind I couldn't help but feel that the general overtone of the piece was love. I was probably just being a sap, seeing a half naked man tended to jumble up a girl's emotions.

"That was beautiful." I stated once he finished.

"I wrote it."

"You did?"

"After I imprinted on you."

Why was it suddenly getting hot in here? And why couldn't I tear my eyes from his?

"You…uh...shouldn't let that talent go to waste."

He shrugged and finally looked away from me, "I love music, but not that much."

"So what were you doing in Seattle?"

"I see how it is; trying to attack while my guard is down. But if you must know I was picking up a gift for Bee and Jake."

"Why is that a big secret?"

"I just like messing with you." Joel laughed.

We sat in silence for a little bit, my eyes roaming over his room, and his eyes roaming over me. I should have been uncomfortable, but the feel of his eyes on me was comforting and right. Quite simply…we were supposed to be this way.

"You should go to college, Joel, you're smart." I finally stated. "I don't want this imprinting thing to mess up your future."

He chuckled, "I didn't go away to college before I imprinted on you did I?"

"Well, I guess not. I just don't want to hold you back from anything you want to do."

"I feel the same way about you. But Viola, I like working with my Dad; I like building things. And when my Dad retires it'll all be mine." Joel explained with an easy smile on his face. "In the mean time I want to see you go to college and prove to everyone just how brilliant you are."

This was it; it was now or never. With the way we were gazing at each other and after he had just opened up to me I knew that this was the right time to finally do something about this imprintation. I didn't think about any of the consequences or his reaction, instead I just moved closer and placed my lips on his.

Joel was still for a moment before his arms quickly wrapped around me and pulled me even closer to his body, as his lips started to move with my own. I had never been kissed before, so I didn't really have any idea what I was doing but with the way Joel was reacting I figured I was doing fine.

The kiss was passionate, but not to the extent that our tongues were meeting, which was fine with me since this was my first kiss and all. It seemed like it lasted forever and when we finally parted my face felt hot and my lips were tingling. I nervously looked into his eyes and saw him beaming down at me.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting for that." He grinned before he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine again.

"Joel, you two need to- oh!" Emily said as she came into his room and immediately walked back out.

When the two of us finally ventured downstairs a few minutes after Emily's interruption his parents, sister, and Jake were all grinning at us. None of them said anything, but they didn't have to because the message was clear in their eyes: about time.

* * *

"You kissed!" My Mom screeched as soon as I walked into Kim's kitchen where all the girls were congregated at the New Year's party.

Of course this outburst caught the attention of all the girls in the room and all their eyes turned to me in excitement.

"Who told you?"

"I did." Emily smiled.

"Come on, spill the beans, Lala." Addy chuckled.

That's how I found myself telling them about our little heart to heart which eventually led to me initiating the kiss. Once I was done with my story they all giggled and looked at something over my shoulder. I turned around and spotted both Joel and my Dad in the doorway. The two of them were quiet for a second, looking at the other curiously. It began a second later.

"You kissed my daughter!?" Dad roared.

I immediately went to stand by Joel's side and grabbed his large hand with my own significantly smaller one.

"I kissed him, calm down Dad." I stated trying to bite back my smile at his sudden outburst. Really, how could I take him seriously after he practically pushed me at Joel in the beginning? Not to mention the fact that last night I had seen him dancing around the kitchen with his apron on to some old Britney Spears song.

"I will not calm down! You're only seventeen!"

"What happened to you being pro Joel?"

He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Yeah it's all good, until I actually do what you make it sound like you want me to do." I laughed.

"He'll get used to it, sweetie." Mom assured me as she walked up to my Dad and wrapped an arm around his waist. He immediately relaxed and leaned into her touch.

"There will be no funny business, Uley, until you're married." He warned Joel before he slipped an arm around Mom's waist and led her away.

And so began the second dose of drama of my imprintation; the over protective father against what I guessed to be the horny imprinter.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to The Maine (hopefully I didn't screw the lyrics up from off the top of my head) **

**Anyway, thanks for all the reviews and I'm sorry for the slowing down of my updates. Not only is the end of the semester looming ahead, but I'm at an awkward part of the story. So I'll warn you now: I will be skipping ahead a few years to get to what I need to in the story.**

"_Tell me that you love me and it'll be alright_

_Are you thinking of me, just come with me tonight_

_You know I needed you, just like you needed me_

_Can't stop, won't stop I must be dreaming."_

**I Must Be Dreaming**

* * *

Winter flew by to give way to Spring which also meant that my senior year at La Push high school was coming to a close. After things had settled down around the holidays I had sat down with my parents and worked out all the details for school in the fall.

Even though Sophie would be going to the same University and living in the same dorm complex, I had decided not to room with her. I wasn't angry at her or anything, but I had a feeling that she might abuse our relationship if we lived together and well…her checking out Joel all the time was starting to get old. It was one thing when he wasn't officially mine, but now that he was it was a little ridiculous on her part.

"Hey, quit writing in your diary, doofo. Abby just had her baby." Ian stated as he strolled into my room as if he owned it. How I hated teenage boys; I could really say that now that Joel had officially turned twenty a week ago.

"What?!" I screeched and threw my journal into my closet where I knew no one would dare touch it in fear of a whole bunch of crap tumbling down on top of their head.

"Yup, everyone's already at the hospital but us. So grab your keys and let's go."

"Why are we the last ones?" I grumbled as I slipped on some shoes and grabbed my purse from my desk.

"We were the last ones to be called."

Nice. Leave out two of the new baby's cousins. Oh well, Mom must have been too excited to call us and since she had Livy with her she had to have been really distracted. Dad had been at work all day and I was sure that once Jared received the call they all abandoned their work and started on their way.

By the time we arrived at the hospital most everyone had already left; leaving my parents and sister, my grandparents, Kim and Jared, Matt, and Joel. When Ian and I came upon them Livy immediately ran to greet us.

"It's a boy!" She yelled.

I smiled and only felt it deepen when a very familiar arm snaked around my waist. I leaned back into his touch and watched as my Dad's face darkened just a little bit and in return my Mom smacked him upside the head.

"What did they name him?" I asked.

"I waited for you to see him, so let's find out together." Joel stated before he started to guide me down the hall where I could hear Jared and Matt's laughter. Well, at least Jared didn't want to kill him anymore.

"Hey." I greeted as soon as we walked in.

"Took you long enough, Lala." Matt laughed.

"Hey, I didn't even know she was in labor as of fifteen minutes ago." I replied easily as I took in the sight of a tired and sweaty Abby holding a little blue bundle with a dark patch of hair on his head.

"Yeah, it got a little hectic." Abby smiled. "Do you want to hold him?"

I eagerly nodded and walked over to the bed to accept the little bundle that was my long awaited cousin. Seriously, as a kid I couldn't understand why I had no cousins even though I had a perfectly healthy uncle. Siblings were nice and everything, but cousins could be sent home at the end of the day.

"What's his name?" I asked gently as I stared down at his sleeping face.

He was so cute and light compared to how I remembered a newborn Livy to be. Of course, I had only been allowed to hold her while I sat down on the couch, but she had definitely felt like a chunker to me back then. This little guy had a good weight to him, but I doubted he weighed ten pounds two ounces like Livy did.

"Martin Jared Hanner." Abby smiled. **(A/N: I just had to say that I came up with the name Martin by declaring to myself that the next song's lead singer on my iTunes would be the kid's name…thank you Boys like Girls.)**

I turned to look at the proud Grandpapa who was practically beaming next to his equally happy wife. Who would have believed that only eight months ago this family was pretty upset with each other? Oh well, it all worked out in the end.

I finally turned to look at Joel who was watching me a little strangely, but I ignored it and smiled up at him and gestured down to Marty, which I had just decided would be what I always called him.

"You wanna hold my cousin?" I asked proudly.

"Sure." He said a little uncertainly and held out his arms.

He was probably afraid that he would do it wrong, but we all knew that even though these wolves could throw a powerful punch, they could also be the gentlest creatures on the Earth. For instance, I may have pissed my Dad off royally when I was younger but he never laid a hand on me, a fact that I attribute to his soft side. Instead he let Mom dish out the spankings with her wooden spoon and backed her up with a few harsh words that were later forgotten when he slipped us some cookies and a kiss.

However, as soon as Marty was in Joel's arms I understood why Joel had watched me strangely. The image of him holding a newborn baby with a smile on his face was extremely appealing to me, and if it was to me I could only imagine just how appealing it was to him. Not that I wanted to have a baby anytime soon, but I definitely did want to have children with Joel…when the time came in the distant future.

I was drawn from my gawking by the sounds of Marty starting to wake up and if the rooting at Joel's chest was any indication he was probably hungry. Joel laughed and handed him back to Abby, telling her that he was handsome.

"Well, we'll leave you to it." I smiled before I hugged my Uncle, grabbed Joel's hand and led him out of the room so Abby could start breast feeding. Jared and Kim followed us into the hall to leave the new family alone and the four of us made our way back to where the rest of them were waiting.

"What did you think of him?" Mom asked me.

"He weighs less than Livy did." I chuckled. "She was a chunker."

"Who you calling a chunker?!" Livy demanded as she settled her hands on her hips.

We all laughed at her, which only served to tick her off more until Dad scooped her up into his arms and tickled her belly causing the frown to leave her face just like we all knew it would.

* * *

"Viola Lee Mire." The principal of La Push High School said into the microphone from the makeshift stage that had been erected in our small gymnasium for the graduation ceremony.

This was it; I was officially done with high school. I took a deep breath and stepped up the two steps carefully. Once I was on the stage I heard loud cheers coming from the stands where my family and friends were sitting and blushed even as I smiled. After I shook a whole bunch of people's hands I finally accepted my diploma and turned the tassel on my cap to the other side indicating that I was now graduated.

After everyone's name had been called the principal announced us as the newest graduating class of the High School which we replied to with cheers and as we threw our caps up into the air. I made sure to catch mine and then darted towards my family, leaving Sophie to find her brother.

"My baby is a high school graduate!" Dad yelled as he pulled me into a huge and suffocating bear hug.

"Don't hog her, Paul." Mom smiled from off to the side.

Dad immediately released me and then I was passed off to be hugged by all of my family and friends. Everyone had hugged me but Joel, and when I turned around to see where he was he was right there waiting for me with a broad smile and open arms.

"I'm so proud of you, Lala." He whispered once our arms were around each other and my head was burrowed into his chest the best it could be without messing up my hair and makeup.

"Just think, in a few more months I'll be eighteen." I stage whispered.

"Excuse me?!"

"I'm just messing with you, Dad. Calm down." I chuckled as I disentangled myself from Joel before Dad pulled me away from his warmth himself.

"Vi!" Sophie screeched as she and Mr. Reid walked up to us.

I held back my own screech, but still rushed at her as she was me. We met half way and hugged excitedly, laughing at the kids that still were in high school. Lame.

"Congratulations, Viola." Mr. Reid smiled once Sophie and I finally parted.

"Thanks Mr. Reid."

"You can call me Eric now that I'm not your teacher."

I thought I heard a growl and turned to look at Joel with a raised eyebrow. I sent him an amused smile before I turned my attention back to Mr. Re—Eric. And since I knew Joel was watching on a bit jealously I sent Eric a nice big warm Mire smile.

"Thank you, Eric."

"So is this your Joel?" Eric asked gesturing to Joel, who had come to stand by my side a bit protectively. I giggled a little at that, but on the inside of course.

"Yeah, this is my boyfriend Joel Uley." I said making sure to emphasize the boyfriend part for Joel's benefit. Silly wolf.

Eric quirked a brow, "You finally figure out what I was talking about in your paper?"

"I guess so." I shrugged with a smirk.

"Nice to meet you, Joel." Eric said as he held out his hand.

I nonchalantly nudged Joel and heard him sigh before he grasped Eric's in his own for a nice firm handshake. When they released each other's hands I saw Eric cradle his hand with his other one and shot a look up at Joel.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"You're horrible." I rolled my eyes before I started to weave through the crowd towards the doors that led to the lawn where my parents had gone once Sophie and Eric had come up.

* * *

After my graduation dinner Joel had insisted on stealing me for the rest of the night; which I happened to be perfectly fine with. However, I did not miss the look that my Dad shot Joel or the look that Joel sent him back. Oh yes, things were about to get very interesting in our relationship.

Once Joel had parked by the beach, he turned off his truck and turned to me with a smile.

"Ready for a moonlit stroll on the beach?"

"That isn't clichéd at all, Joel." I laughed as I opened my door and jumped out of his truck and into the night air.

Even if it was cliché, it still was pretty romantic. That's why things were clichéd weren't they? Because they were true and always seemed to work well. Besides it was hard to be 'originally romantic' in La Push with limited resources for romantic evenings. I was just fine with his hand clasping mine as we traveled down the beach in our bare feet.

"So, to make this even more clichéd I wanted to tell you something."

My heart started to beat faster. Was he finally going to tell me what I had known from the very beginning? What was I going to say to him?! I should return the sentiment shouldn't I? Especially since the past few months we had had with each other were possibly the best of my life. Maybe I should just shut my brain up and listen to the man.

"Go on." I urged.

"Well I think you already know this, but I love you Viola."

I couldn't help the idiotic grin that appeared on my face. Yes, I had known that he did, but it was just so nice actually hearing it come out of his mouth.

"You don't have to say it back." He continued. "In fact I don't want you to; I want you to say it to me once you know how well we will make it work when you're gone."

I nodded at that; he was right. Our relationship really needed to be tested first, and I was happy that he only wanted to hear me say it after we had been through some rough times.

"Tell me again how often you're going to come see me?" I stated with a smile on my face as I moved closer to his warm body.

"Every weekend if I can." He replied easily. "But as far as your parents know…only once a month, but that'll be in my truck."

I laughed a bit evilly. My parents had sat the both of us down and politely explained that having my boyfriend come up every weekend would put a hamper on my college experience. Bull shit, I could have my college experience during the week and enjoy the weekend with Joel. Right after that meeting Joel and I had agreed that he would come up once a month in his truck and every other weekend he would come up as a wolf, being careful to phase when he was sure none of the other wolves would be. If they found out, I knew they would tell my Dad and we did not need a pissed off Paul Mire.

"Let's not worry about that now; we have a whole summer together."

"You're right." I replied as I stretched up on my tiptoes and placed a sweet kiss on his lips. I pulled back with a little smile, but he wasn't having any of that. He grabbed my hips tightly and pushed our bodies impossibly close as his lips captured mine in a passionate kiss.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to Boys Like Girls**

**Sorry for the delay, this week was not a good week for me. Lately I've been in more of a reading mood, and after I got a request for more fluff I had to push back the chapter I had planned to post and wrote this one to go before it instead. Hope you guys like it. Thanks again for all of your support! Oh and I honestly have no idea if I'll be able to update again before I leave Wednesday morning for Thanksgiving weekend.**

* * *

"_Cause this is the real thing_

_Love changes everything_

_This is the night when every heart's exploding_

_The real thing_

_Slow down, it's happening_

_Cause you've got time to burn in the heat of the moment…"_

**Real Thing**

* * *

Babysitting duty; it was both a punishment and a pleasure. I had been saying that I wanted to watch Marty for weeks, but of course the only time they needed me was when I already had plans with Joel. But unfortunately for us Dad caught Joel in my room with me one night after they had gone to bed and he decided that instead of Joel and I going on our date we could watch Marty and gain firsthand experience with what happens when men and women have sex. It was a little ridiculous especially since all Joel and I had been doing was sitting on the floor playing cards, but Dad was determined.

So while Mom and Dad took out my siblings for a movie night and Uncle Matt took Abby on a much needed date night, they left the two of us alone in my house with a four month old Marty. Even though both Joel and I were older children we had limited baby experience. When I was ten my Mom hadn't let me do much to help with Livy; I mostly watched as she changed diapers and threw away the dirty ones, and I occasionally held her and played with her.

"So who's changing the diapers tonight?" I asked as soon as we closed the door on my Aunt and Uncle.

Joel didn't answer; instead he carried the carrier into the living and set it down on the couch before he got down on his knees to undo Marty from his constraints.

"You have the sister that's ten years younger than you; you have a better memory with how diapers work." Joel stated as he lifted Marty out of the carrier gently.

"Oh I see, pass it off to the girl." I rolled my eyes.

"Lala, that's not what I'm doing." He chuckled.

"How about a joint effort? Since he's a boy he might pee on me so I need someone ready with a shield."

Joel broke into laughter, effectively waking up the baby. He didn't cry at first like I thought he would, instead he stared up at him curiously before he closed his eyes again satisfied. It must have been the heat; the body heat must have reminded him of Matt.

He didn't sleep much longer after that. The two of us had just finished eating some dinner when he started wailing. I did not miss that at all in the five or six years since I had had to hear it. Sure Livy still cried, but nothing could match that high pitched wail that new babies can achieve. Livy came dangerously close, but I could stuff a sock in her mouth without getting in too much trouble.

Joel and I exchanged looks before we headed towards the baby. A quick inspection revealed that he needed a new diaper. I wrinkled my nose at the smell and turned to Joel with a disgusted face. He returned my look.

"Let's just get this done." I sighed as I went to grab the diaper bag.

Once we had Marty laid out on his blanket, Joel removed his onsie and we both stared down at the infamous dirty diaper in horror. He was still crying, so we didn't stare too long before I grabbed a fresh diaper and the wipes.

"You gonna wipe him?" Joel asked as my hands inched towards the fastenings of the diaper.

"Yeah, but you better be ready to shield with the new diaper." I warned.

That's when I decided that this needed to be treated like a band aid; we just needed to get it over with instead of prolonging it. Not only was my head starting to hurt because of his crying, but the smell was starting to make me gag; damn my sensitive gag reflex.

Luckily there was no peeing and after I cleaned him up Joel quickly got the new diaper on him effortlessly. I turned to look at him in shock. Weren't males supposed to be terrible at that the first time?

"Are you sure that's the first time you've put a diaper on a kid?"

"Yeah." He shrugged as I slipped Marty back into his onsie.

"You're a natural." I smirked. "That'll be perfect in a few years."

"I'm sure you'll abuse my skill."

"Damn right, I will. Women do all the work to get them into the world, besides conception, so it's only fair that the man put in his share afterwards."

He smiled, "So you want to have children with me?"

"Eventually, but not any time soon. Now get that smug look off your face and throw that stinky thing away."

By the time Matt and Abby came back we both had learned some life lessons with little Marty. We now knew to watch for spit up, to change a diaper as fast as possible, and to not growl around babies. Seriously, you would think anyone knew the last one, but Joel still growled and Joel started wailing.

"You guys have fun?" Abby asked with a knowing smile.

"Oh you know it; I love the smell of dirty diaper after I eat dinner."

"At least you don't have to smell it every day." She replied as Matt gathered up both Marty and his things.

"I don't want to hear it you two." Matt interrupted. "We have heightened senses, which means I can smell his dirty diaper a lot more clearly that you two can."

"Yeah!" Joel agreed.

Both Abby and I shot our men looks that immediately wiped the looks off their faces.

Once they were gone again we sat down on the couch, and he pulled me into his arms.

"I don't think your Dad needs to worry about me getting you pregnant." Joel stated.

"He's the only one who thinks that way; we all know that I wouldn't let you anyway."

Joel laughed, "I am not ready to get puked on every day."

"Agreed."

* * *

I was a little worried about my birthday. Why wouldn't I be? Last year I had to have emergency surgery, but at least I had gotten a puppy. What was going to happen next? Both of those things would be pretty hard to beat. On top of that was the fact that it was my eighteenth birthday which was generally supposed to be a special birthday.

For the past two weeks leading up to my birthday Dad had been acting weird and nostalgic. One day I caught him looking through my baby photos, another day he grabbed me and put me on his lap like we used to do years ago and he insisted on tucking me in at night.

"Mom, something is up with your husband." I stated casually as I walked into the kitchen where she was making dinner.

"You're turning eighteen tomorrow, Lala. It's hard for him, hell it's hard for me." She replied. "Look my parents did the same thing to me; it's the older child syndrome. My parents never reacted this much to those milestones in Matt's life and I'm sure we won't be like this for your brother and sister."

"Does that mean you guys are going to cry when I leave for college?"

"You better believe it." She answered easily. "I'll cry for your brother and sister when that time comes too. And you better be crying too."

I chuckled, "You know I will."

Mom let out a sigh as she stirred up the gravy to go with her delicious homemade mashed potatoes.

"We just never wanted you to grow up fast, and it seems like just yesterday I was coming home from my honeymoon with you in my belly."

She sniffled a little, but kept her face averted from me as she continued to stir the gravy.

"Aw Mom!" With that I threw my arms around her.

I couldn't think of anything to say though. Anything I could think of I knew that she already knew. Like everyone has to grow up, but I'll always be her daughter; that kind of stuff. I could only be thankful for my brother and sister, so my parents didn't suffer from empty nest syndrome too soon. And since Livy wasn't even quite eight, they had a while to go with that one.

"What is this?" Dad asked as he walked in. "Why wasn't I invited?"

Mom and I both turned around to face him and held out our arms so he could join our hug. He did not hesitate to join us and soon I was trapped in between my parents as dinner continued to cook on the stove.

"Whoa what is this?" Ian asked from the doorway sounding so much like Dad that I had to chuckle. "When is dinner going to be ready?"

"It's almost done, get your sister and make sure her hands are clean." Mom replied.

"Okay, sorry for interrupting the love fest." Ian grinned. "Promise not to do that when I turn eighteen."

"Sorry buddy can't promise you that." Dad chuckled. "Now do what your Mom told you to do."

Heh heh heh, I wanted to be around when they turned their little love fest onto him. Did I think he would cry? I didn't know, because I was sure eighteen year old Ian would definitely be different from the moody pubescent one…hopefully.

* * *

"Wake up!"

Having my younger sister scream into my ear wasn't exactly the way I wanted to be woken up on any day, let alone my birthday. And if that wasn't enough Joel was standing in the doorway grinning at me, not even bothering to hide his amusement at my pain and my bed head.

"You guys suck." I muttered as I pulled the covers over my head.

"Nope, get up! Joel has a day planned for you before he brings you back here for your surprise party!"

"Livy!" Joel yelled.

I rolled my eyes, "You guys think you're clever, but I've known since last year that Mom wanted to try and surprise me this year. Plus you guys should know better than to tell loud mouth here. She's the one that told all of her friends at school that Ian had that nasty rash on his-"

"We agreed never to speak of that again!" Ian shouted from the hallway.

I swear he was like ninja sometimes, one minute he wasn't there and the next there he was and always at the most inconvenient times.

"Oops."

Joel wasn't allowed in my room so I watched as he started to take a step in, but then remembered Dad's rule and pulled his foot back quickly.

"Alright, come on get ready, I have plans for you today." He informed me a bit impatiently.

"Both of you out then. I'll be down in a little bit."

As I prepared myself for the day I couldn't help but wonder what Joel had planned for me today. There weren't really a lot of things that we could do that hadn't already been done before. And well…he really couldn't beat the puppy he gave me last year.

"So where are we going?"

"Mini golfing." He replied nonchalantly as we headed toward his truck. "And then we'll get some cotton candy ice cream."

I smiled, "Sounds good to me."

I hadn't been mini golfing in years, since the incident with Ian and the little girl that had been one hole behind us the entire night. Let's just say there had been some yelling that had resulted in my parents declaring to never take us again.

"So how long are you supposed to distract me for?" I chuckled as we grabbed our putters and picked out our balls. I chose a red one and Joel picked up a dark blue one for himself.

"At least act surprised tonight will ya?" He sighed. "Your Mom will think I said something to you."

"Fine." I agreed with a dramatic sigh. "But you owe me."

"What do I owe you?"

"Come a little closer and I'll tell you." I grinned.

He immediately caught on to what I was doing and in the length of a heartbeat he had me pressed up against his chest, with both of his hands on my waist. My head was craned back to look up at him, and I was about to tell him to hurry up when his lips descended down to mine.

The two of us could have happily stayed that way all day, but the sound of children laughing pulled us out of our passionate embrace. My face immediately flushed, but Joel went on as if nothing out of the ordinary had been taking place in this family friendly place. My face was still burning as Joel lined up his first shot and didn't go away until I had gotten my own ball in with two tries.

"I bet I can get a hole in one tonight and you can't." I grinned.

"You wanna bet?" Joel smirked as he looked down at our little score card.

"Winner has to be the other's slave for the rest of the day."

And that was how for the rest of my birthday after my amazing hole in one Joel became my slave. It was great really; I deserved the treatment anyway since it was my birthday, but it was still nice abusing my power. Despite my many demands for water and chocolate cake Joel presented me with leather bound journal with my initials engraved on the front and gave me a passionate kiss before he left for the night.

"Did you enjoy your birthday, sweetie?" Mom asked as we passed each other in the hall upstairs.

"Definitely." I smiled.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to Boys Like Girls**

**Sorry about taking so long updating; thanks for understanding. I also wanted to warn that this chapter may seem fast and out of left field for some, but I debated it for a long time and I just can't change it. My mind is stalling on this story so it will be ending soon, but not without the ending you all expect. :) But I do have another story idea in mind...I'm not sure if it'll work out or not, so just keep an eye out for something.**

* * *

"_It's true that I can't live without you,_

_and I'm thinking that two is better than one."_

**Two is Better than One**

* * *

Every child and every teenager in the whole United States probably knows that summer flies by too quickly and yet again that was exactly what happened. Last year the summer had seemed to drag by with my coldness towards Joel and all the new pack drama, but this summer flew; which made sense because I was pretty much happy the whole time.

As the summer wound down I began to feel more and more apprehensive about the big move at the end of August; I was definitely not looking forward to it. College is a huge leap; all of my normal routines were about to be interrupted and replaced with new college routines. If that wasn't enough I now had to worry a lot more about money, and on top of that I would miss everyone.

Move in day was the most stressful day of my life. It was hot, I was a ball of nerves which made me a bit bitchy, and both of the most important men in my life were grumpy because they wouldn't see me everyday anymore. So naturally a few arguments arose between Dad and Joel that I had to end while my Mom helped me settle my belongings in my room around my roommate's stuff.

Luckily for me, my roommate turned out to be awesome and that night we had both ended up crying together and eating the cookies my parents had left with us.

It was as we were eating the snickerdoodles that I realized that Callie and I were probably going to become more than just your average roommates that coexists with pleasantness and courtesy. Callie was from a small remote town just like me, she had a serious boyfriend back home, younger siblings, and happily married parents.

"I think we can do this, Vi." Callie stated after our tears had dried up and we had just polished off three cookies each. "We've got each other."

I had a feeling that that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

* * *

"Vi!"

I stopped walking and turned around to see who had called my name. I was on my way back from math class and at the moment wanted nothing more than to pop a few pain killers for my massive headache before I started to work on my practice problems.

That dream was shattered when I saw Sophie running up to me. I didn't want to say that I had been avoiding her for the first few weeks of school because that seemed a little harsh, but I hadn't exactly been seeking out her company. I probably seemed like a big jerk for ignoring my friend from high school, but I had my reasons. The main one being what happened two days before move in day. She didn't know I saw her, but I happened to catch her surprise hugging my boyfriend and by hugging what I mean is rubbing her body against his.

Even if I had not witnessed it, Joel would have told me anyway which he did later that night when he came over to my house. It was then that I decided that my best course of action was just not to say anything at all. Maybe my silence would guilt her into saying something.

"Why haven't I heard from you?" She asked once she was standing before me.

"I've been busy adjusting and stuff." I shrugged, and it wasn't exactly a lie.

"Oh, well you've just seemed distant."

"Sorry, look I've got a massive headache. Message me later, okay?"

"Okay." She replied quietly.

Okay so I did kind of feel like a jerk for that, but I did leave her an opening to contact me; maybe without Joel there as temptation for her she wouldn't be too bad.

I started to walk away then but didn't get very far before she grabbed my arm and said my name gently.

"Vi…I….well…I came on to Joel."

"I know." I answered causing her eyes to widen. "I saw it, and even if I hadn't he would have told me. What I can't figure out is why you would do that when you were the one that encouraged me to go after him."

"I didn't have a crush on him then."

"A crush? You hardly know him. That would've been like me going up to your brother and coming on to him. I don't think I have to worry about you being around him, but for future reference he doesn't want you, okay? I'm glad you finally confessed to me, but I don't know if I can trust you."

"Vi, I'm sorry."

I nodded my head a bit sadly; I hadn't even had this problem with a friendship before. Was I supposed to sever our ties? Or was I supposed to act as if nothing happened? Well I definitely wasn't about to act as if nothing happened.

"I forgive you, but don't expect us to be like we were before. I'll see you around."

Callie was in the room dancing around to some song and vacuuming when I walked in. When she saw the look on my face she turned off the sweeper, pulled out her headphones and narrowed her eyes at me in concern.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I think I just broke up with my best friend."

"Those are rough." She sighed. "But sometimes absolutely necessary; at least you've got me to come home to right?"

I couldn't help but chuckle at that, "Yeah."

* * *

After that college wasn't too bad at all. Sure it was stressful, but after the initial freshman shock wore off I settled in quite easily. As promised Joel came to visit me every weekend while Callie went home to visit her boyfriend. And during the week days Callie and I grew closer and closer, while I hadn't heard from Sophie since the day we had had our confrontation.

However, things with Joel and I were great. In fact I would have to say that they were just…awesome. All Callie had to do was mention his name and I was grinning like an idiot; something she loved to do especially when I was freaking out about a math test.

"Have fun with lover boy this weekend." Callie grinned as she slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and headed towards the door.

She opened the door to reveal a sweaty Joel on the other side. Callie turned her head to look at me and grinned before she greeted him and then walked off down the hall towards the stairs.

"Hey." Joel grinned as he crossed the threshold into my dorm room.

"Hey yourself." I grinned back.

"Happy to see me?"

I rolled my eyes, "You ask me every weekend and every weekend I say yes."

"And then you kiss me, so pucker up." Joel smirked and grabbed me by the hips to pull me up against his body. I was lost as soon as his hands made contact so I practically melted into him when his lips came down on my own.

After a few minutes of that, the two of us finally pulled away, but stayed close together. I was completely happy right here and right now, and I knew that there was only one thing that was left unresolved between the two of us. And it was probably time that I took care of it.

"Joel, I love you."

To say he was overjoyed was an understatement.

* * *

I was jerked from my happy dream by the sound of my phone ringing. Reluctantly I pushed the covers away from me, waking Joel in the process. He watched as I got down from my loft and grabbed my phone off of my desk. A quick glance at the clock told me that it was two in the morning and with my heart threatening to beat out of my chest, I realized that this was probably an emergency.

"Hello?"

"Viola Lee Mire! Is that boy with you right now?!" My Dad yelled into the phone.

My eyes snapped up to Joel's whose were wide and looking a bit worried. We were so screwed.

"Um…"

"I said...is Joel Uley up there, Viola?" He asked in his calm yet scary voice that succeeded in scaring the shit out of his children every time.

"Yeah but we were-"

"You can tell him to drag his sorry ass back home and come straight to me, got it? And you…if you two pull something like this again I will pull you out of that school so fast that you won't know what hit you."

"Paul." I heard Mom protest in the back. "She's staying in school no matter what."

"Well, I'll do something so you better watch it, missy."

Missy? If I wasn't in such deep trouble I probably would have laughed at his word choice. But since he was incensed I let it slide and remained quiet.

"I'll give him an hour to get here, and if he's not here, I'm coming there."

With that the other line went dead.

"Gee, I love you too Dad." I grumbled angrily before I slammed my phone on the desk and went to turn on the light.

Joel was already gathering up his things in a timely manner. I wanted to tell him to ignore it and spend a few more minutes with me, but my Dad was dead serious and Joel was the one that had to see him in an hour.

"I'm sorry." I sighed. "Who knew he'd be like this?"

"It's alright; we knew they would find out eventually."

"Well make sure my Mom is there to control him okay? I don't want him to hurt you."

"He's not going to hurt me and I'm not going to hurt him."

"Good."

Once he had collected everything he walked over to where I stood in my PJ's and pulled me into his arms. Our lips immediately connected and stayed that way for a few heartbeats until Joel finally pulled away with a sad look in his eyes. Who knew how long it would be before we saw each other again?

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too."

Once he was gone I dialed up the home phone hoping that Mom would answer. I didn't want Dad to answer; if he did I would just hang up.

"Hello?"

"Mom, he just left." I said sadly.

"Don't think you can sweet talk me honey." She said gently. "I'll make sure your Dad is fair, but you're both still in trouble."

"I know." I sighed. "Mom, I told him I love him today."

"You did?" She asked a bit excitedly.

"Yeah."

"In that case I won't let your Dad punch him like he wants to."

"What?!"

"Well, I guess I can't make any promises on that front. I have to go honey, I think your Dad is coming back in here after pacing around outside."

"Alright, love you Mom."

"Love you too, Lala."

* * *

The next morning Ian called me with the official report. He had been awakened around three in the morning to the sound of Dad's yelling followed by the sound of a fist connecting with a face. That face happened to be Joel's and the fist was my Dad's. After he had that out of his system they had a long and loud chat about Joel's relationship with me and how he wasn't allowed to do anything with me until the two of us were married.

I had to laugh at loud at that one, especially since he ranked heavy kissing under that category. What a hypocrite. We all knew that that wasn't going to work, but the rest we could be agreeable with.

Ian went on to tell me that after a half hour the two of them were laughing and acting like old friends talking about some dumb thing Embry had done with Addy to piss off Jared yet again. Although our fiasco had been dramatic, nothing could ever be as dramatic as Jared's daughter's drama. That was one thing to be grateful for.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to Plain White T's**

**Alright it is my goal to have this story finished before I go home for break on the 17****th**** because the three weeks after that I will not have internet access. I'm hoping I can do it, because next week is finals week. So basically the end is near! Thanks again for all of the support for this story, I really appreciate it.**

* * *

"_There's only one thing to say_

_three words for you,_

_I love you."_

**1,2,3,4**

**Four Years Later**

* * *

In a stroke of brilliance, thanks mostly to my Mom's genes, I graduated from college with a Bachelor's degree in English with a Concentration in Creative Writing. Nothing made me happier than when I received my diploma in the mail in the months that followed the actual graduation ceremony…except Joel of course.

It had been a year since I had finished college and when I wasn't working at the library I spent my time with either Joel or the book I had started writing my senior year of college. Callie jokingly called it my baby after witnessing me coddling it and stressing over it throughout our last year as roommates, and she was pretty much right.

Even though I was twenty two I was still living with my family. Which wasn't so bad except for the fact that my sister had hit puberty and my brother was away at college hitting a bunch of parties and still managing to keep a steady 3.5 going. Thankfully he hadn't changed into a wolf, which meant that he could do whatever he wanted to do with his life; he wasn't tied down.

"Hey." Livy said as she swung my door open and marched in uninvited.

I watched from my computer chair as she plopped down on my bed and grabbed Brownie from the floor. He grunted like an old man but then presented her his belly which she immediately started to rub. In the years I had been away and after Stevie had died of old age, Livy and Brownie had bonded. In fact if it wasn't for his favorite dog bed that stayed in my room I was pretty sure he would abandon me for her.

"Sure you can come in." I said.

"Riley is a jerk."

"Who's Riley?" I asked as I spun away from my computer which displayed 'my baby'.

"A boy in my class." She sighed.

"Who is he and what did he do to you?"

"He's Quil's nephew and he called me some names, but I like him Lala!"

Oh to be young again. Junior high was best known for the awkward relationships boys and girls had. The whole I like you, so I'm going to be mean to you thing. Of course it wasn't really restricted to that age level, but in my experience it was the most common.

"Livy, he probably likes you."

"That makes no sense." She countered as she continued to rub Brownie's stomach. By this point his eyes were closed and I was pretty sure he was about to fall asleep if he wasn't already.

"Yeah it does. At your age especially, when a boy likes a girl he's mean to her because he doesn't want his friends to think less of him. Take for instance Joel and me. He totally ditched me because he didn't want to look bad in front of his friends. Of course he didn't like me like me, but he liked being friends with me. All you've gotta do is just give him this smile and show him that what he says doesn't hurt you." I said and then demonstrated the grin she should use on him.

"What if it doesn't work?"

"If he doesn't come around then he's not worth your time."

"Is that why you hated Joel at first?"

"Yeah, but you've seen how that one has turned out haven't you?" I chuckled.

"Boy troubles?" A familiar deep voice asked from the doorway.

I smiled and watched as he started to step into the room before a throat was cleared from the downstairs; damn that squeaky board.

"Hey Joel." Livy greeted. "Lala was just giving me some advice about Riley."

"He's picking on her, and I told her that that probably means he likes her." I explained.

"And what advice did you give her?" Joel asked.

"I told her that she should show him that it doesn't bug her."

Joel laughed, "No, what you should do is fire it right back at him. He calls you something call him something worse, he pushes you, slug him in the shoulder."

"Joel!"

"Just don't get caught." He added.

"Joel!"

"Thanks Joel!" Livy smiled and sprinted out of my room.

"Great job, Uley. Next thing I know she'll be in the principal's office for giving the kid a black eye; she does have Dad's temper you know."

"Which also means she knows how to avoid getting in trouble." He grinned.

"Shut up." I stuck my tongue out at him before I turned around to face my computer screen.

I reread the last line I typed two times before I realized that Joel was still standing in the doorway looking at me expectantly.

"Did you not remember our date tonight?"

"Oh!"

"I feel so loved right now."

"Get out and I'll be ready in two minutes."

* * *

Two minutes turned into a half hour, but I'm sure that he already expected that if the eye roll he gave me after that pronouncement was an indication. But I'm sure he realized that the half hour was well worth the wait when I came down the stairs dressed in my little black dress with a small sweater to keep my arms warm. I had no idea where we were going or what we were doing, but for some reason the dress had called to me from the corner of my closet.

"What's the occasion?" Dad asked from his recliner.

"I don't know I just felt like wearing it." I shrugged. "I don't even know where we're going."

"That's because it's a surprise." Joel grinned as he held out his hand for me.

As soon as our fingers were interlaced the two of us headed outside and into his truck with his Father's logo on the side. In the four years since he had started to take carpentry seriously his Dad had made him his second in command. A few years from now when Sam retired it would be all Joel's.

It wasn't until we were on the road for a few minutes that I realized we weren't going into any town like I thought we were. I thought maybe we'd go get something to eat or go see a movie but instead we were headed deeper into the reservation.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we passed the turn off for his parent's house, where he still lived.

"You'll see."

The next ten minutes were the worst in my life; the suspense was killing me. It was worse than the day my Mom had given birth to Livy and we were all dying to know what it was going to be. I had been praying for a girl, but I didn't know that that was what she had until I had to wait seven hours for it.

Finally he pulled into a drive and after we passed the cover of some trees what he had said was a surprise was finally revealed to me.

"It's ours."

My eyes were wide as I took in the frame of the two story house. It was already pretty far along; the rooms were all laid out, the roof was in place, and there was already cement poured for the garage. I was too busy staring to realize Joel had pulled me out of the truck and led me to the cement in the garage. In the middle was a heart that read Joel and Viola Uley and I looked up at Joel questioningly.

"Obviously we're building this house for you…us…our family…will you marry me, Viola?"

So he didn't get down on one knee and he didn't profess his undying love for me, but I already knew that. He didn't even have a ring box out, but that didn't matter to me as I threw my arms around his neck and whispered yes in his ear with tears in my eyes. He held me for a minute before he finally set me down and pulled out a ring from his pocket.

"I asked your parents for their permission while you were getting ready." He stated as he slipped the simple diamond ring on my finger.

"What would you have done if they had said no?"

"I didn't really have a backup plan."

"That confident huh?" I grinned as I admired the way his ring looked on my finger. It looked pretty darn good if I said so myself.

He just grinned and grabbed my hand. "Ready for a tour?"

The house was going to be amazing. He told me he had designed it himself with the help of an architect friend. Three bedrooms, two and a half baths, a laundry room, a two car garage, a nice kitchen and dining room and a nice big living room for our future family.

"How many kids do you want?" I asked innocently as we walked towards his truck.

We still hadn't had sex yet. There had been plenty of times that we could have, but for some reason we didn't. I knew that my parents hadn't waited, but since we had lasted this long I figured we might as well wait.

"As many as you do, but two is a good number." He replied. "How fast do you want them though?"

"I want to finish my book before we have a kid." I answered easily. "If it doesn't get published then oh well."

"It will." He assured me. "And if that one doesn't, then I'm sure the next one you write while you're stuck at home raising our children will be."

I slapped his shoulder playfully before I wrapped my arms around his neck and reached up on my tip toes to kiss him. I was about to pull away, but his arms immediately wrapped around my waist and pulled me against his body as he deepened the kiss.

Who knew how long we stood there making out with each other until it started to rain. I knew he was tempted to keep going, but when I started to shiver he finally pulled his lips away from mine and ushered me into the truck.

"I love you." I smiled as he started up the engine.

"I love you more."

* * *

"So how was your date?" Mom asked nonchalantly as I walked into the living room grinning like a chocoholic who had just received a huge chocolate cake.

She and Dad were sitting on the couch together cuddling; Livy on the floor watching a movie on TV with Brownie curled against her side when I walked in. Instead of answering though I walked up to my parents and held out my left hand for them to see.

"He did it!" Mom screeched.

"I know!" I screeched back.

"My baby is getting married!"

"What?" Livy screeched.

"Joel asked me to marry him!" I screeched yet again…so unlike myself but I think I was allowed just this once to act like a complete and utter girly girl.

"Enough screeching already!" Dad yelled. "I see that you said yes."

I smiled and rolled my eyes, "Of course I did, Dad."

"Good, I was wondering when that boy was going to get around to it." Dad grinned. "Especially since we've started working on your house."

I hugged my Dad, then my Mom and finally Livy before I finally sat down to tell them how it happened. Mom and Livy had focused their attention on me, but Dad kept on watching the movie even though I knew he was really listening to me.

"He took me to the amazing house he's building for me, and in the concrete in the garage there's a heart that says Joel and Viola Uley and then he asked me!"

"I knew he was up to something." Livy declared.

"Well I knew all along, before anyone else. He asked Emily and me to help him pick out a ring a month ago."

"And you didn't tell me?" Livy asked, outraged.

"Honey, you can't keep a secret very well."

Livy looked at me, but I just nodded my head, "It's true. But cheer up; I want you to be my maid of honor."

"Really?!"

"What did I just say about screeching? Jeez you damn girls are going to burst my ear drums one of these days."

"Oh shut up, you know you are enjoying this just as much as we are, Paul." Mom rolled her eyes as she elbowed her husband.

"Yes, really, you're my baby sis of course I want you to be right there next to me on my big day."

"When are you guys getting married?" Livy asked excitedly.

"Well, we didn't talk about it."

"I'm guessing there wasn't much talking."

"Paul."

"What about in April?" I asked. "It's October, so that would give us six months to plan it."

"We could do it." Mom agreed with a smile. "I feel so old…my first baby is getting married."

"You're still beautiful, Nats."

That was our cue as children to leave the room; things were about to get lovey dovey and gross in a matter of seconds. I knew that Joel and I were that way, and hopefully our kids would learn as well as I did when to get lost. If they didn't then there would definitely be some scarring.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. I don't know who originally wrote the song, but I'm referring to the Relient K version.**

**Thanks again for all of the positive feedback! You guys inspired me to write the ending, but this isn't it. There's still one chapter to go and then it'll be done. Hope you guys like it.**

* * *

"_It's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you."_

**Sleigh Ride**

* * *

"Callie!?" I shrieked which immediately had my Dad clearing his throat loudly from behind Callie.

I couldn't be annoyed with him though, he had just picked up my best friend from the air port after picking Ian up from school. And by the looks Ian was sending Callie it seemed that he was intrigued by my brunette best friend. Well I guess that was the polite way to say 'damn she's hot'.

"She's too old for you." I said bluntly after Callie and I pulled away from our hug.

"I like older women." He winked before he walked into the house with his bag slung over his shoulder. Dad followed behind him with a proud grin on his face. I rolled my eyes; the men in this family were so alike. Not only did Ian look like a younger version of my Father, he also acted like a younger version of him. What he needed was someone to tame him just like my Mother had my Father.

"Your brother is good looking." Callie said quietly.

"Don't let him hear you say that." I warned her as we moved into the house. "Anyway, I'm glad you could come have Christmas with us!"

"Like I would miss it, Vi. Plus, as one of your bridesmaid's it is part of my duty to aid in wedding plans."

I smiled, "Okay. Tomorrow all of us are going to the bridal shop so you guys can try on your dresses…and I have yet to find mine."

"You will."

I led her up to my room where we deposited her stuff on the floor next to my bed we would be sharing. After she rubbed Brownie's belly for a little bit we emerged from the room to see Livy coming up the stairs with a young boy attached to her hand. I looked the kid over; he was obviously the same age as Livy and after looking a bit closer I realized he looked a little like Quil. Was this the infamous Riley?

"Who's this?" I asked with a smile on my face.

"Riley."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, now if you'll excuse us I want to show him my-"

"Olivia Mire! No boys allowed in your room!" Dad yelled up the stairs.

She shot me a desperate look and I just shrugged.

"If I can't even have my future husband in my room there's no way Riley here is getting in."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Callie trying to stifle her laughter at this situation. It wasn't that funny, but when I saw Riley's face I realized why she was laughing so hard. The boy looked terrified! And the only explanation for that was Ian, who was glaring at him from the doorway to his room.

"I don't believe we have met." Ian growled. "I'm Livy's older brother, Ian."

"Shut up, Ian, you've met Riley." Livy shot back.

At this point both Callie and I were riveted on what was happening here in the upstairs hallway of the Mire house. It was great! Once again I was front row for a drama and I loved it!

"_That_ Riley was interested in bugs and not holding hands with my younger sister."

Riley immediately dropped her hand like it was diseased. Yet again the two of us had to hold in the laughter that was threatening to bubble over. But even though I found this whole situation very amusing I did feel bad for the poor kid.

"Alright Ian, that's enough terrifying for one day. Now you two go downstairs and eat some cookies okay?"

Riley looked more than relieved to follow Livy back downstairs, leaving Ian still standing in his doorway, with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

"She isn't old enough for boys!" He declared.

"Yes she is." I chuckled wondering what had happened to my geeky younger brother. "She'll be fine, she knows how to handle herself and we all know Dad will keep out the riff raff."

Ian turned away muttering something about 'damn right he better'. Callie and I exchanged looks. I had to say that it was quite cute to see Ian turning into a protective older brother.

"I think I'm definitely going to enjoy my time here." Callie smiled.

* * *

"I don't have any boobs!" Livy shouted, effectively attracting everyone's attention in the entire bridal store.

"Of course you don't yet, you're still young honey. You'll grow some…it might not be much but it'll be something." Mom sighed gesturing to her own bosom as well as my own.

It was true, the two of us hadn't been gifted with a nice chest, but for some reason I had a feeling that Livy was going to have big breasts. I didn't know why I thought that exactly, but it just seemed like after having a Mom and an older sister with hardly any it would just make sense that at least one female in the family had a nice pair. And if she did, you can bet your ass I would be jealous.

"That dress looks great on you, Livy." I smiled, trying to steer the conversation away from boobs, and what I said was true anyway. The dark red color of the spaghetti strapped dress complimented her tan skin well, as well as Addy's and Bee's. And even though Callie had fair skin the dress looked great on her too.

"I have to say that this is the best bride's maid dress I have ever seen." Callie smiled. "When I was in my sister's wedding-my own sister!- she put me in a hideous sea foam green dress with ruffles! I was only sixteen and I was completely mortified."

"I agree, but shouldn't we be finding you a dress?" Addy said as she turned to face me where I stood surveying my half of the bridal party. My maid of honor was my sister of course, and then I had three others; Addy, Bee, and Callie. Joel had decided to ask my brother to be his best man, and the other three were going to be Embry, Jacob, and Seth. I felt a little bad that there weren't going to be any single guys to try to hook up Callie with, but judging by the glances she kept returning to my brother she probably didn't want my help. I knew I should have been a bit disturbed by it since she was four years older than him, my best friend, and he was my little brother. But there was no denying the fact that Ian was a good looking guy; he had really grown in the past few years and looked more like he was my age than his own.

"What about this one, Lala?" Mom asked.

I turned to face her and the dress she was holding up and knew that it was the one. Kind of like the first time Joel saw me after phasing; he just knew.

* * *

"Can we have a girly heart to heart?" Callie whispered from the other side of my double bed.

We had had many of these back in college, especially after Callie and her boyfriend broke up our sophomore year after his declaration that he was in love with someone else. That someone else had happened to be his lab partner at their local community college and they were now married with a small baby. She was over him now, but the year after that was a tough one for her; she'd thought they were forever.

"Sure, what's up?"

"I'm not going to lie or beat around the bush because I know you've noticed. Anyway, your brother is hot Vi, and I can't help but be attracted to him."

"It's not just because he's hot right?"

"Well that definitely helps, but it's more than that." She sighed. "But I don't want to pursue anything if you or anyone in your family won't approve."

"Well I'm pretty sure he likes you too, Callie." I chuckled. "I don't personally care, and I doubt anyone around here will have anything to say about it. Age is just a number anyway."

"Thanks Vi. And yeah, I realize he is in college…so I'm not going to go into this with a bunch of expectations."

"Go into this? Does that mean that you guys have talked?"

"Not yet, but I'm planning on it before I go back home."

"Alright, you do what you've got to do. Good night."

"Night, Vi."

* * *

It was the night before Christmas and all through the Mire house, everyone was stirring even lazy old Brownie. The house seemed fuller than it ever had before. My Mom's parents were here as well as my Dad's Mom, my Uncle and his family. And then there was Joel and Callie joining us this year. Usually Christmas Eve was a strictly family tradition, but since Joel and I were engaged and Callie was staying with us, they were exceptions.

After we ate dinner my Mom and the rest of the women besides Callie, Livy and I disappeared into the kitchen to clean up while my Dad and most of the guys escaped into the living room to watch some TV. As usual Livy and I snuck off so we didn't have to help with dishes and pulled Joel along with us to Livy's room. It wasn't until we were gathered in a circle on her floor playing go fish that we realized that Callie and Ian were missing.

"Oh jeez." I said suddenly.

"What?" Joel asked curiously.

"Have you seen Callie or Ian?"

"Oh…no."

"Yeah." I sighed.

"They are attracted to each other aren't they?" Livy asked. "I think they would make a good couple."

"Why's that?" I asked curiously; I already had my reasons why I wasn't exactly against the relationship, but I was curious to see what my little sister had to say about it.

"She just seems like she can handle him is all. Mom can handle Dad and they're still gaga over each other. I know that he imprinted on her, but even if he didn't I think they would have ended up together."

"Aw that's sweet, Livy!"

After that we continued to play cards until Mom finally called us down and ordered us to find Callie and Ian while they passed out gifts in the living room. Joel and I left Livy in the living room with everyone else in case we happened to encounter something R rated.

Sure enough we found the two of them in the basement in a full lip lock, both of their shirts tossed carelessly aside. It wasn't exactly rated R, but Livy couldn't keep her mouth shut to save her life so it was a good thing she wasn't here to see this.

Joel and I stood there for a moment while the two of them kept sucking face, and then finally when I was about to say something Joel cleared his throat loudly and pointedly. They sprung apart as if they had been electrocuted and looked guiltily at the two of us. Both Joel and I raised our eyebrows at them and watched as they scampered around for their shirts.

"You better wipe that lip gloss off your face before you come upstairs, dude." Joel chuckled.

"Yeah, and you might want to fix your hair Callie." I grinned before I grabbed Joel's hand and led him back upstairs to where the presents awaited us.

When Ian and Callie entered the room everyone turned to look at them, each with some form of grin on their face. We watched as Callie's face turned beat red and then finally Dad cleared his throat and told us to decide who was opening a gift first.

"Hey Paul, it looks like you've got a mini me right there." Matt grinned as he nodded towards Ian who had his arm around Callie's shoulder and a satisfied look on his face.

Dad laughed and pulled Mom in closer to his side so he could give her a sweet kiss on the lips. Love was contagious around here that was for sure.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to Danny Elfman and anyone else affiliated with The Nightmare Before Christmas. Please don't sue me.**

**This is the end. Thanks to everyone that has read this story and thanks especially to my loyal reviewers. I might start a new story, but since I have no high speed internet for my laptop at home there will be nothing from me for three weeks. Happy Holidays everyone and I hope you enjoy the last chapter.**

* * *

"_My dearest friend if you don't mind_

_I'd like to join you by your side_

_Where we can gaze into the stars_

_And sit together now and forever_

_For it is plain as anyone can see_

_We're simply meant to be."_

**Finale/Reprise**

* * *

I could hardly believe that today I was getting married. It seemed like just yesterday I was pissed off at Joel, not making out with him in his truck…let alone getting married to the guy. But here I was, and I couldn't be happier.

I had to say I was in a pretty calm mood, as was most of my family, but my Dad was an entirely different story. The big lug was a mess. Oh, he tried to hide it behind his macho 'let's get things ready' attitude, but I caught him sneaking glances at me as we ate breakfast and scrambled around getting ready for the wedding.

I let him be until I caught him standing at the doorway to my room where Mom and my bridesmaids were busy messing with various parts of my dress, veil, and hair. His eyes were shining as he looked around the room before his eyes landed on me.

"Hey, will you guys give me and my Dad a minute?" I asked.

They all looked at me suddenly then at the door where Dad stood before shuffling out past him. Once they were all gone I motioned him inside and held out my arms.

"You can't hide those tears from me, Dad." I chuckled. "You don't fool me with that big and bad attitude."

He chuckled, despite the fact that he had two big fat tears rolling down each cheek. A huge lump formed in my throat as my eyes watered, but I held it back because if I got going it'd be the end for the both of us.

"I just miss my little girl is all." He stated simply with a sad smile wiping away the two tears from his eyes quickly. "But I couldn't be happier for you."

I held him tighter and the two of us were quiet for a moment until he said with a hint of amusement in his voice, "At least I've had it better than Jared."

I had to laugh. Although things were alright for Jared now things hadn't always been so smooth. There had been the big drama with Matt and Abby, and then the fight just two years ago when Jared denied his blessing to Embry and Addy's engagement. Luckily Kim was able to talk some sense into him and once the two were actually married he was just fine. He was even better when his newest grandson, Tyson was introduced into the family, as well as a little sister for Marty named Milly.

So all in all, my Dad had had it pretty easy, especially since there weren't any new wolves around to imprint on Livy.

When we finally pulled away he gave me a kiss on the cheek before he sent the girls back in to fret over how he had dislodged my veil.

"It took me ten minutes to get it right last time!" Callie sighed.

"It looks fine." I assured her. "I'm the one getting married."

"You need us to make sure you don't let your happiness cloud your judgment on your appearance." She pointed out as the rest of them nodded.

"I almost got married with a bad updo." Addy informed me as Bee nodded her agreement.

"Alright girls, it's time we get the blushing bride to the church." Mom announced with a smile.

It was funny that Dad was the one crying and being nostalgic instead of her, but that's the way it was in my family. Although I knew that my Mom loved me just as much and would be sad to see me finally move out, she also understood that it was time for it all to happen and didn't let her emotions control her actions as much as Dad did. He was such a softie. However, I had the feeling that when her baby finally grew up and got married she would be bawling. I didn't take it personally, that's just the way it was.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Livy asked curiously as she played with one of her curls.

She looked beautiful, and suddenly I was struck by how much she had grown up in the past four years while I was away. With her bridesmaid dress on and her hair curled all around her head she looked more like my sister that was trying to sneak boys into her room instead of my little sister that forced me to build sand castles with Joel.

"I was thinking about how Mom will be the day you get married." I smiled as I grabbed her hand.

"She'll cry her eyes out." She stated easily.

"Yup." I laughed.

By the time we arrived at the church, the parking lot was full, and as they dragged me by the sanctuary doors I could see that it was just as filled on the inside. Wow, just who had our Moms invited? I knew the pack and their families accounted for a good amount, but not enough to fill all the pews. Oh well, it's not like I would see them anyway.

"Would you quit dragging your feet and get into this room before Joel sees you?" Callie hissed. "He can't see you until you're headed towards him on your Dad's arm."

"Yeah, nothing is sweeter than watching the look on a groom's face when he sees his bride for the first time coming down the aisle at him." Addy agreed with a huge smile on her face. "You should have seen Embry's it was-"

"Yeah, we saw it." Livy interrupted. "The whole congregation did since he couldn't even wait for you to reach him and met you half way."

It was true. At Addy and Embry's wedding everyone, except Jared, had laughed when Embry met the two of them halfway down the aisle. I, however, did not miss the scowl on Jared's face, but by the end of the night he was fine even with the bruise on his knuckles from 'accidentally' hitting Embry at the beginning of the reception.

"It was sweet wasn't it?" She gushed.

"Yeah." We all agreed as we rolled our eyes.

"Enough about you, Addy. It's time for you girls to line up and walk down the aisle." Mom ordered. "And now if you'll excuse me I'm going to take my seat."

I followed them out of the room and met my Dad by the doors to the sanctuary. We didn't exchange any words, we had done that already, but he kissed my forehead before he looped my arm through his. Then we started to make our way down the aisle as everyone turned to look at us. My eyes though were just on Joel. And Addy was right…nothing was sweeter than watching the smile that lit up his face as he watched me coming towards him and our new life together.

* * *

"A toast! To my big sis and my new brother in law!" Ian shouted as he stood up.

I immediately covered my face; this could either be horribly embarrassing or really sweet.

"I just wanted to say thank you Joel for finally making another male in this family…all my life the only other men have been the dogs and my Dad. Not that I don't love my sisters of course, but now that Lala is out of the way I can concentrate all of my brotherly protective instincts on my little sister and you can help!"

"Hey!" Livy yelled to which everyone laughed.

"Kidding. But in all seriousness, no one could be better for Lala than you and I'm proud that I can call you my brother. I wish you two all the happiness in the world and ask that you provide a shelter for me when I piss Mom off. Thanks that's all."

Most of us laughed, but I didn't miss the look my Mom shot Ian. He sent her back what was clearly a Paul Mire grin and her cold look immediately melted to be replaced with a smile. Damn he was a charmer, but I had a feeling that he had met his match in Callie just like Dad had in Mom.

"My turn!" Livy announced. "I'll keep this short and sweet unlike Ian's. Congrats guys and all I ask are for some nieces and nephews to play with before I go to college. That's all, have a great life."

"See what you married into?" I asked with a smile.

"Hmm I don't know… I like what your sister said about babies." Joel teased.

"Jeez we haven't even…you know… yet…" I blushed, as my eyes darted around us making sure no one was listening in on our conversation.

"Well, that's about to be remedied tonight, Mrs. Uley."

I giggled…yeah I actually giggled. But thankfully that moment was interrupted by the sound of a slow song coming on over the speakers. I took that as my cue to grab his hand and drag him out onto the dance floor for our first dance together.

"Let's dance."

"Alright, but I'll make you giggle again." He grinned.

I ignored him and brought my hands up on his shoulders as he settled his on my hips. Then we were leaning into each other swaying back and forth as my parents spun around the dance floor gracefully like a couple of love sick teenagers.

"Think we'll be that way in about twenty three years?" Joel whispered into my ear, his hot breath causing me to shiver just a bit.

"I hope so."

"Does that mean I need to learn how to bake?"

"Baking is fun!" I declared. "But I think you're better suited to perfecting the barbeque."

"You're right; my steaks are to die for."

* * *

I found out that night that his steaks were not the only thing to die for. I had known the mechanics of sex from an early age, mostly due to the fact that my parents were horn dogs, but nothing had ever prepared me for my wedding night…and that was in a good way. Now I finally understood why my parents went to bed early and woke up late.

"What are you thinking about?" Joel asked from beside me in bed.

We were at our honeymoon location, a nice bed and breakfast up the coast. We were only staying for the weekend due to a big building project the guys were working on and my job at the library.

"Do you really want to know?" I asked as my gaze strayed from his face to his naked chest, then down a little lower to where the sheet hung low on his hips.

"Of course." He grinned as he trailed his fingers up my arm.

"I was just thinking that I finally understand why my parents are such late sleepers."

"Oh come on you've known they're horn dogs for years!" Joel chuckled.

"Yeah, but I never knew why exactly they were."

He smirked, "Better get used to sleeping in late then, because I can guarantee we'll be like that."

"Our poor children."

"They'll be fine; you're not too scarred from it."

"Yes I am, make me forget." I sighed dramatically.

"I would be happy to."

Basically I was glad that the two of us had waited. Sure we had missed out on a few years of sex life, but we could more than make up for it in our lifetimes. All that mattered, whether or not there was sex or not, was the fact that I would wake up next to Joel every morning for the rest of my life and that was just fine with me.

**A few years down the road…**

"You know, I predicted this would happen on the day of our wedding." I whispered to Joel.

"What?"

I pointed to where my Mom sat in front of us crying her eyes out as Dad held her tight. Joel followed my finger and took in the sight of my Mother before he turned back to me with a smile.

Today was Livy's wedding…to none other than the infamous Riley. The poor kid had gone through hell with Ian, Dad, and Joel. Yet here he was holding Livy's hands and reciting his vows to her in front of all of us.

I was a little sad that I couldn't be standing up next to her, but with my nine month baby bump any length of time on my feet was no good for me. I was prepared to defy the doctor's orders, but Joel had been pretty strict with me about it. But at least I was actually able to come to her wedding; I had been scared for days that my water would break before the ceremony and I would mess up her big day.

"Mommy?"

"Honey what's wrong?" I asked as I looked down at my three year old girl, Hailey.

"I have to pee."

I looked up to meet Joel's eyes and we exchanged a look. Neither of us really wanted to miss the end of the ceremony, but Hailey had a reputation of being a pants pee-er. Oh hell, we'd risk it on this day. I had already won with fate over the due date of my unborn baby boy, so why not with my daughter's bladder?

"Just hold it. Auntie Livy will be done in just a minute."

With that I turned my attention back to where they were being announced husband and wife, right before they kissed. And as they turned to face the crowd I felt something wet and my eyes immediately shot to Hailey.

"Did you pee your pants?"

"No."

That's when I felt it. Of course I had been feeling it all morning, but had passed it off as bad gas due to the dinner Joel had insisted on making the night before.

"My water just broke!" I hissed.

"Your water broke?!" Joel shouted, attracting everyone's attention.

"Yes."

And that was how my sister's wedding reception ended up in the hospital.

"You're not mad at me are you?" I asked as Livy and Riley walked into my room where I was holding our new baby boy with Joel standing off to the side of my bed looking exactly like the proud Papa he was.

"Of course not!" Livy beamed. "My nephew was born on my wedding! That means double the celebration on this day in the future. So what did you name him?"

"Paul."

She gasped with a smile on her face, "You didn't?"

"We did."

Just then Mom walked into the room with Dad right behind, Hailey in his arms. Ian and Callie walked in behind them, Ian's hand straying to stroke Callie's very pregnant belly.

"Alright, what's my first grandson's name?" Dad asked expectantly with a huge smile on his face.

"Paul, meet Paul." Joel grinned.

Then, for once in his life, instead of trying to hide his tears or turning away he openly cried in front of all us; his family.

**The End**


End file.
